Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)

Colchester
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Colchester in Essex.
Location of Essex within England.
County	Essex
Electorate	73,638 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Will Quince (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Colchester North, South Colchester and Maldon
1295–1983
Number of members	one (two 1295-1885)
Replaced by	Colchester North and Colchester South & Maldon
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Colchester is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Will Quince, a Conservative.

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.

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.

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.