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'Colchester' is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Boundaries

Boundary review

Members of Parliament

1660-1885

1885-1983

1997-present

Election results

See also

References

Boundaries

The seat has one of Britain's largest residential military populations, but the non-military vote in Colchester has been swinging in favour of the Liberal Democrats since 1997, when Bob Russell was elected with a small majority. Russell has increased both his total vote and precentage share in each of the succeeding elections.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Essex, the Boundary Commission for England has created a modified Colchester constituency formed from the following electoral wards

★ Berechurch, Castle, Christ Church, Harbour, Highwoods, Lexden, Mile End, New Town, Prettygate, St Andrew’s, St Anne’s, St John’s, and Shrub End.

Members of Parliament

1660-1885

Year		First member	First party		Second member	Second party
1660		John Shaw			Sir Harbottle Grimston
1679		Sir Walter Clarges
1681		Samuel Reynolds
1685		Sir Walter Clarges			Nathaniel Lawrence
1689		Samuel Reynolds			Isaac Rebow
1690					Edward Cary
1692					Sir Isaac Rebow
1694		Sir Thomas Cooke
1695		Sir John Morden
1698		Sir Thomas Cooke
May 1705		Edward Bullock
December 1705		Sir Thomas Webster [1]
1711		William Gore
1713		Sir Thomas Webster
1714 [2]		William Gore			Nicholas Corsellis
1715		Richard Du Cane	Whig		Sir Isaac Rebow	Whig
1722		Sir Thomas Webster	Whig		Matthew Martin	Whig
1727		Stamp Brooksbank	Whig		Samuel Tufnell	Whig
1734		Isaac Lemyng Rebow	Whig		Matthew Martin	Whig
1735		Jacob Houblon	Tory
1741		John Olmius
1742 [3]		Samuel Savill			Charles Gray [4]	Tory
1747		Richard Savage Nassau
1754		John Olmius
1755					Isaac Martin Rebow	Whig
1761		Charles Gray	Tory
1780		Sir Robert Smyth	Radical Whig
1781					Christopher Potter [5]
1782					Captain Sir Edmund Affleck [6]
April 1784		Christopher Potter [7]
July 1784		Sir Robert Smyth	Radical
1788					George Tierney	Radical
1790		Robert Thornton	Tory		George Jackson	Tory
1796					The Lord Muncaster	Tory
1802					John Denison	Tory
1806					William Tufnell	Whig
1807					Richard Hart Davis	Tory
1812					Hart Davis	Tory
1817		Sir William Burroughs	Tory
February 1818					James Beckford Wildman	Tory
June 1818		Daniel Whittle Harvey [8]	Radical
1820		Henry Baring	Tory
1826		Daniel Whittle Harvey	Radical		Sir George Henry Smyth	Tory
1830					Andrew Spottiswoode	Tory
1831					William Mayhew	Whig
1832					Richard Sanderson	Conservative
1835		Sir George Henry Smyth	Conservative
1847					Joseph Alfred Hardcastle	Whig
1850		Lord John Manners	Conservative
1852					William Warwick Hawkins	Conservative
February 1857		John Gurdon Rebow	Whig
March 1857					Taverner John Miller	Conservative
1859		Philip Oxenden Papillon	Conservative
1865		John Gurdon Rebow	Liberal
1867					Edward Kent Karslake	Conservative
1868					William Brewer	Liberal
1870		Alexander Learmonth	Conservative
1874					Herbert Bulkeley Mackworth-Praed	Conservative
1880		Richard Knight Causton	Liberal		William Willis	Liberal
1885	''Representation reduced to one member''

'Notes'
1. Webster and Rebow were re-elected in 1714, but on petition the result was reversed and Gore declared to have been duly elected instead, following a dispute over whether foreigners could be made freemen of the borough and thereby acquire voting rights
2. Webster was re-elected in 1710, but on petition the result was reversed and Gore and Corsellis declared to have been duly elected instead, following a further dispute over foreign freemen's voting rights
3. At the election of 1741, Olmius and Martin were returned as elected, but on petition their election was declared void and their opponents, Savill and Gray, declared elected in their place
4. At the election of 1754, Gray was re- elected, but on petition his election was declared void and his opponent, Rebow, declared elected in his place
5. On petition, Potter's election was declared void on the grounds of defective qualification and his opponent, Affleck, declared duly elected
6. Admiral from 1784
7. On petition, Potter was declared ineligible on the grounds of bankruptcy, and a writ for a new election was issued
8. Harvey was re-elected in 1820 but on petition his election was declared void on the grounds of defective qualification

1885-1983

Year		Member	Party
1885		Henry John Trotter	Conservative
1888		Lord Brooke, later Earl of Warwick	Conservative
1892		Herbert Naylor-Leyland	Conservative
1895		Sir Weetman Dickinson Pearson, later Viscount Cowdray	Liberal
1910		Sir Laming Worthington-Evans	Conservative
1929		Oswald Lewis	Conservative
1945		Charles George Percy Smith, later Baron Delacourt-Smith	Labour
1950		Cuthbert James McCall Alport, later Baron Alport	Conservative
1961		Philip Antony Fyson Buck	Conservative
1983	''Constituency abolished: see Colchester North, Colchester South and Maldon''

1997-present

Year		Member	Party
1997	''Constituency re-established''
1997		Bob Russell	Liberal Democrat

Election results

See also

★ List of Parliamentary constituencies in Essex

References

★ Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]

★ F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)

★ Victoria County History of Essex online at www.british-history.ac.uk