Created Unknown Electorate 7,615 (2015) | Councillors 3 County division Abbey | |
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Created from Unknown
St. Marys (2002) Parliament constituency Colchester (Unknown-1983; 1997-present)
Colchester North (1983-1997) | ||
Castle ward is an electoral ward in Colchester and is within the Colchester Borough Council boundary, to which it elects 3 councillors.
Contents
The ward covers central Colchester, including the Town Centre, the historic Dutch Quarter neighbourhood and Colchester Castle, which lends its namesake to the ward.
History
Castle ward has existed since at least 1976 and is still in use today. The boundaries of the ward have seldom changed, with the exception of the amalgamation of the St. Marys neighbourhood (from St. Marys ward) into the west of Castle following boundary changes from the 2002 election.
The ward was originally held by the Labour Party and then changed hands between the Conservatives, Labour and the SDP-Liberal Alliance (later Liberal Democrats) until the 1990 election, when the Liberal Democrats solidly held the ward for the next 25 years. Recently, it has become a marginal ward, last won by the Conservatives at the 2015 election.
Castle has the highest vote share for the Green Party in a Colchester ward.
Polling districts
Electorate in brackets (as of 2015):