THE Colchester Council elections saw Reform take a number of seats, the unveiling of the city's next mayor and had the highest turnout of voters in recent years.
The council’s third local elections as a city took place with 17 seats up for grabs on May 7 at Colchester Sports Park in Northern Gateway, Cuckoo Farm Way.
The verification of the 104 ballet boxes continued until 2.10am and counting started at 2.23am this morning.
On the night, the Conservatives won five seats, the Liberal Democrats won three, Labour won three, Green Party won one, and Reform won five.
It marks the first time Reform now has councillors in Town Hall.
In terms of the make-up of Colchester Council, the Conservative group remains the majority party with 18 seats.
The group is followed by Liberal Democrats and Labour which both have 12 seats. Green party has three seats, Reform has the five seats, and there is one independent seat.
There had been 141,747 registered voters and 18,226 postal ballots issued and a remarkable overall 41.29 per cent turned out with three wards achieving well over 50 per cent.
Addressing the room about the turnout, Chief Executive of Colchester Council Pamela Donnelly said it was “very significant” and a higher turnout than expected.
In 2024, there were 139,321 residents registered to vote and only a 30.31 per cent turnout as 43,603 votes were casted.
Whereas the year before there were 139,761 residents registered to vote and only a 31.12 per cent turn out with 43,291 votes casted.
The current liberal democrat leader of Colchester Council David King retained his seat in Mile End Ward with the most votes of the election, 1,912 votes.
Despite winning, he did state it has been a difficult night for many parties.
Mr King said: “It’s a great feeling to know that on an otherwise difficult night, I’ve retained with great colleagues and respect for what we seek to do from our residents.
“It matters they appreciate the Mile End Lib-Dem team do, so I’m really pleased.
“It’s been a very long campaign, and the established parties have had a difficult night, all of us.
“We wake up to a new reality which is Reform has a significant presence in Colchester, that reality we will have to adjust to.”
Reform’s Daryl Swain bested Labour’s now ex-Greenstead ward councillor Elizabeth Alake-Akinyemi by earning 899 votes.
Reform took Highwoods from Labour and Co-operative member Jocelyn Law, and also came out top in Marks Tey and Layer, Shrub End, and Stanway wards.
The party led by Clacton MP Nigel Farage nearly also got into Berechurch, and only lost the Tiptree count by one vote.
Conservative Councillor Rhys Smithson retained his Tiptree seat after the ward had three recounts.
Despite not showing up, Councillor Paul Smith was re-elected as St Anne’s and St John’s ward councillor, this makes him the next in line to become the mayor of Colchester.
Councillor Amy Kirby-Taylor of the Green Party retained her Castle ward seat with 1,507 votes.
Labour’s Kayleigh Rippingale of New Town and Christ Church retained her seat and so did Lexden and Braiswick Ward’s Conservative councillor Sara Naylor.
Colchester MP Pam Cox, Witham MP Dame Priti Patel, and Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin were all spotted at the count.
Sir Bernard spoke to the Gazette prior to the results, and said: “It's always fascinating to meet the candidates from other parties and find out what they are thinking.
"Tonight is Reform's night, it always was and it always will be.
"I think the two main parties have got to learn from what is happening, I think Kemi [Badenoch] is, there has been very good response on the doorstep to Kemi and her performance recently.
“She is now the popular political leader in the country, and that bodes well for the future of the Conservatives.
"But we've still got a lot to learn, a lot to do, and a lot to do to persuade people that we're going to be a different party by the time we get to the next election."
Prior to the elections, the council was led by a coalition between the Liberal Democrats and Labour.
It is unclear what will happen next in terms of a potential coalition at this point in time.
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