Colchester Borough Council election, 2012

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3 May 2012 (2012-05-03)

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20 seats (out of 60 seats)
31 seats seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	Liberal Democrat	Conservative	Labour
Last election	26	21	7
Seats before	26	21	7
Seats won	26	20	8
Seat change	0	1	1
Popular vote	10,073	8,917	7,401
Percentage	32.6	28.9	24.0
Swing	5.1	7.6	2.1

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Party	Independent	Green	UKIP
Last election	3	0	0
Seats before	3	0	0
Seats won	3	0	0
Seat change	0	0	0
Popular vote	1,405	2,268	824
Percentage	4.5	7.3	2.7
Swing	1.6	0.3	2.3

The 2012 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.

After the election, the composition of the council was

Before the election a coalition between the Liberal Democrats with 26 seats, Labour with 7 seats and the 3 independents ran the council, while the 24 Conseravtives were in opposition. 20 of the seats were contested at the election with the Conservatives aiming to regain seats they had lost at the 2008 election, while the Local Government Information Unit called the election one of the top 50 contests in the 2012 local elections.

The Conservatives called for the council to change to full council elections every four years, for food waste pick ups to be introduced immediately and for a push to keep the town centre clean. However the Liberal Democrats defended their record in leading the council pointing to a freeze in council tax, recycling rates and contrasted their record in control with the former Conservative administration. Meanwhile, Labour was supported during the campaign by a visit from the former Labour cabinet minister Hazel Blears.

The only change at the election saw Labour gain one seat from the Conservatives in Wivenhoe Quay. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats remained the largest party on the council with 26 seats despite losing seats across the country. The existing coalition between the Liberal Democrats, Labour and independents stayed in control of the council after the election.

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