County Essex Created 1997 | Electorate 73,638 (December 2010) Number of members One | |
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Member of parliament Will Quince (Conservative) Created from Colchester North, South Colchester and Maldon | ||
Colchester is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Will Quince, a Conservative.
Contents
History
The borough has sent representatives to Parliament since the Model Parliament of 1295: two members were sent until 1885, when representation was reduced to one.
Boundaries
1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Colchester, and the Rural District of Lexden and Winstree except the detached part of the civil parish of Inworth which was wholly surrounded by the civil parishes of Great Braxted and Kelvedon.
1950-1983: The Municipal Borough of Colchester, the Urban District of West Mersea, and the Rural District of Lexden and Winstree.
1997-2010: The Borough of Colchester wards of Berechurch, Castle, Harbour, Lexden, Mile End, New Town, Prettygate, St Andrew's, St Anne's, St John's, St Mary's, Shrub End, and Stanway.
2010-present: The Borough of Colchester wards of Berechurch, Castle, Christ Church, Harbour, Highwoods, Lexden, Mile End, New Town, Prettygate, St Andrew’s, St Anne’s, St John’s, and Shrub End.
The present Colchester constituency most closely resembles the old seat of Colchester North, which was held by the Conservative Bernard Jenkin from 1992 to 1997.
Constituency profile
Once the basis for one or two semi-rural seats, the modern-day Colchester constituency is a compact, urban core, containing the town centre and surrounding neighbourhoods.
The seat has one of Britain's largest residential military populations, but the non-military vote in Colchester has swung further in favour of the Liberal Democrats since 1997 when Bob Russell was elected for the party with a small majority. Russell has increased both his total vote and percentage share in each of the succeeding elections. In the 2010 election it was the only non-Conservative seat in Essex. He was defeated in the 2015 general election by the Conservative candidate Will Quince, winning with a 11.5% majority. This made Clacton the only seat in Essex held by a non-Conservative MP - with Douglas Carswell winning the constituency for UKIP.
Elections in the 1940s
General Election 1939/40:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914/15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;