Post by East Anglian Lefty on Oct 26, 2021 18:07:06 GMT
Colchester arose at the lowest bridging point of the River Colne as the primary stronghold of the Trinovantes tribe. Between the Roman invasion of 43AD and its burning by Boadicea, it was the capital of the province of Britannia. Whilst local signs always used to refer to it as Britain's oldest town, those have recently been replaced by signs calling it "Britain's First City", in line with the borough council's repeated, unsuccessful and less than universally popular attempts to have the town designated as a city.
Colchester's Roman heritage is obvious when you walk round it. Parts of the Roman walls still survive, whilst the Norman castle (built on the site of the Temple of Claudius) was rebuilt in the 18th century using Roman stone by a somewhat confused local antiquary. Pretty much every major construction scheme in the town uncovers new Roman remains, notably a complete chariot racing track unearthed about a decade ago.
Colchester was besieged during the Second Civil War. After the surrender, several royalist commanders were shot (and to add insult to injury, then had unsalubrious streets and serially underperforming schools named after them.) The town, meanwhile, had ruinous fines imposed on it, devastating the local cloth industry (whose close links with the Netherlands explain the Dutch quarter, just north of the city centre.)
Since then, Colchester has mostly been known as a garrison town. In the 2000s the old barracks were replaced by a new PFI scheme and since then the sites have mostly been redeveloped, creating thousands of extra houses in the south of the town. On the civilian side, Colchester's industries used to be centred around light engineering, particularly the manufacture of diesel engines. That has now largely vanished and the major employers are the NHS and the University of Essex (although the University itself is located just to the east of the town in Wivenhoe Park.) The town also has a significant commuter population, as when the trains are functioning properly you can get to Liverpool Street within the hour.
There has been a Colchester constituency since 1295, although between 1983 and 1997 the town was divided, with Colchester South being combined with Maldon and Colchester North with parts of Tendring district. The Colchester seat (at that time including rural areas outside the town) fell to Labour in 1945 and was marginal in 1966 (when Michael Meacher cut the Tory majority to just over 1000) but was otherwise Conservative. In 1997, it was a tight three-way marginal which was narrowly gained by Bob Russell.
Russell, who was first elected as a Labour borough councillor before defecting to the SDP and thence joining the Lib Dems, established a reputation as a hard-working champion for the town and reliable rent-a-quote, who seemed to enjoy a considerable personal vote. His defeat by Will Quince in 2015 was a surprise, and the collapse of his vote in favour of Labour in 2017 was even more of a shock. Whilst Labour fell back in 2019, the Lib Dem vote shrank even further, cementing Labour's position as the major challenger to the Tories. A 9% swing would be needed to take it, but that still makes it the most marginal seat in Essex. The proposed boundary changes remove the two strongest Tory wards (Lexden & Braiswick and Prettygate) from the seat, which would make it a genuine marginal.
Labour support is strongest in the east and south of the town, whilst the Tories do best in the west and to a lesser extent the north. The strongest Labour ward is undoubtedly Greenstead, which has had continuous Labour representation at a borough level since 1973. As that would imply, it's a traditional council estate ward, although these days an increasing number of students have their digs there. To the north lies the St. Anne's & St John's ward. Whilst St. Anne's has some of the most deprived parts of the town, it's somewhere Labour has underperformed in local elections since the turn of the millennium. St. John's, on the other hand, is a combination of bungalows and stolid semi-detached housing, with a substantial elderly population and a very definite right-of-centre lean. At a local level the combined ward is a LD/Con marginal but in general elections I would suspect much of the LD vote goes Tory.
South of the river is the Old Heath & The Hythe ward. The north of the ward is the Hythe, which is the historic port area. There's been a fair amount of regeneration here, though it's been held back by the persistent odour of sewage from the river. Nevertheless, it's a short walk to campus from there so it's still a relatively popular area with students. Further south, you have the Old Heath area, which is largely made of council and ex-council properties. In the south of the ward (though not in the current constituency) is the separate village of Rowhedge. Although some of the predecessor wards were Lib Dem-held, these days the ward votes fairly securely Labour in local elections and I have no reason to doubt that it does in general elections too.
Much the same can be said of Berechurch ward to its west, the bulk of which is made up of the Monkwick Estate (although there's a fair amount of new housing on ex-garrison land here too.) Further west, however, Shrub End ward is rather more politically marginal. Another historic council estate ward, Labour have struggled here in local elections for the past two decades. It will have voted Lib Dem up until 2010, Conservative in 2015, been close in 2017 and Conservative in 2019. If Labour can carry the ward at the next general election, they'll probably win the seat.
To the north of these three wards lies New Town and Christ Church. New Town is to the south-east of the town centre, along Military Road and Magdalen Street, and was Bob Russell's original political base. Christchurch is to the south-west of the town centre along the Maldon Road and has more of a Conservative electoral history. Between the two there is a fair amount of new housing on former garrison land. This ward has a large private rented sector, and it's perhaps unsurprising that this was the ward which swung hardest to Labour under Corbyn.
To the north, Castle is the town centre ward, although in fact only a small portion of the electorate live in the town centre proper, as opposed to various estates scattered around it. Up until 2016 the Lib Dems held all the seats here, since then first the Conservatives and then the Greens have taken seats here. Whilst it's unlikely they'll win it in local elections, in a general election Labour does need to win here.
To the north of the railway line sit the wards of Mile End and Highwoods, which are divided from one another by Highwoods Country Park. Mile End, where the hospital is located, is extremely middle class. At a local level it's strongly Lib Dem, but there was a surprise Conservative victory here in the 2015 local elections which must indicate that they carried the ward that year. As general elections re-orientate around a Labour/Conservative contest, I can only assume that will have continued.
Highwoods proper (ie the area around the big Tescos) very likely votes similarly, but the last quarter century has seen a lot of new housing built in the north of the ward, much of which is populated by young families. My assumption is that it still votes Conservative by a decent margin, but rather less than that in Mile End.*
Finally, in the west of town we have the wards of Prettygate and Lexden & Braiswick (although the bulk of the electorate of the latter ward lives in neither of those two areas, but is instead located in villages outside Colchester.) Both areas are solidly and traditionally middle-class and have been securely Conservative for generations.
*Then again, Mile End also has a lot of new housing, but I don't know very much about what it's like so I can't speculate about its electoral behaviour.
Colchester's Roman heritage is obvious when you walk round it. Parts of the Roman walls still survive, whilst the Norman castle (built on the site of the Temple of Claudius) was rebuilt in the 18th century using Roman stone by a somewhat confused local antiquary. Pretty much every major construction scheme in the town uncovers new Roman remains, notably a complete chariot racing track unearthed about a decade ago.
Colchester was besieged during the Second Civil War. After the surrender, several royalist commanders were shot (and to add insult to injury, then had unsalubrious streets and serially underperforming schools named after them.) The town, meanwhile, had ruinous fines imposed on it, devastating the local cloth industry (whose close links with the Netherlands explain the Dutch quarter, just north of the city centre.)
Since then, Colchester has mostly been known as a garrison town. In the 2000s the old barracks were replaced by a new PFI scheme and since then the sites have mostly been redeveloped, creating thousands of extra houses in the south of the town. On the civilian side, Colchester's industries used to be centred around light engineering, particularly the manufacture of diesel engines. That has now largely vanished and the major employers are the NHS and the University of Essex (although the University itself is located just to the east of the town in Wivenhoe Park.) The town also has a significant commuter population, as when the trains are functioning properly you can get to Liverpool Street within the hour.
There has been a Colchester constituency since 1295, although between 1983 and 1997 the town was divided, with Colchester South being combined with Maldon and Colchester North with parts of Tendring district. The Colchester seat (at that time including rural areas outside the town) fell to Labour in 1945 and was marginal in 1966 (when Michael Meacher cut the Tory majority to just over 1000) but was otherwise Conservative. In 1997, it was a tight three-way marginal which was narrowly gained by Bob Russell.
Russell, who was first elected as a Labour borough councillor before defecting to the SDP and thence joining the Lib Dems, established a reputation as a hard-working champion for the town and reliable rent-a-quote, who seemed to enjoy a considerable personal vote. His defeat by Will Quince in 2015 was a surprise, and the collapse of his vote in favour of Labour in 2017 was even more of a shock. Whilst Labour fell back in 2019, the Lib Dem vote shrank even further, cementing Labour's position as the major challenger to the Tories. A 9% swing would be needed to take it, but that still makes it the most marginal seat in Essex. The proposed boundary changes remove the two strongest Tory wards (Lexden & Braiswick and Prettygate) from the seat, which would make it a genuine marginal.
Labour support is strongest in the east and south of the town, whilst the Tories do best in the west and to a lesser extent the north. The strongest Labour ward is undoubtedly Greenstead, which has had continuous Labour representation at a borough level since 1973. As that would imply, it's a traditional council estate ward, although these days an increasing number of students have their digs there. To the north lies the St. Anne's & St John's ward. Whilst St. Anne's has some of the most deprived parts of the town, it's somewhere Labour has underperformed in local elections since the turn of the millennium. St. John's, on the other hand, is a combination of bungalows and stolid semi-detached housing, with a substantial elderly population and a very definite right-of-centre lean. At a local level the combined ward is a LD/Con marginal but in general elections I would suspect much of the LD vote goes Tory.
South of the river is the Old Heath & The Hythe ward. The north of the ward is the Hythe, which is the historic port area. There's been a fair amount of regeneration here, though it's been held back by the persistent odour of sewage from the river. Nevertheless, it's a short walk to campus from there so it's still a relatively popular area with students. Further south, you have the Old Heath area, which is largely made of council and ex-council properties. In the south of the ward (though not in the current constituency) is the separate village of Rowhedge. Although some of the predecessor wards were Lib Dem-held, these days the ward votes fairly securely Labour in local elections and I have no reason to doubt that it does in general elections too.
Much the same can be said of Berechurch ward to its west, the bulk of which is made up of the Monkwick Estate (although there's a fair amount of new housing on ex-garrison land here too.) Further west, however, Shrub End ward is rather more politically marginal. Another historic council estate ward, Labour have struggled here in local elections for the past two decades. It will have voted Lib Dem up until 2010, Conservative in 2015, been close in 2017 and Conservative in 2019. If Labour can carry the ward at the next general election, they'll probably win the seat.
To the north of these three wards lies New Town and Christ Church. New Town is to the south-east of the town centre, along Military Road and Magdalen Street, and was Bob Russell's original political base. Christchurch is to the south-west of the town centre along the Maldon Road and has more of a Conservative electoral history. Between the two there is a fair amount of new housing on former garrison land. This ward has a large private rented sector, and it's perhaps unsurprising that this was the ward which swung hardest to Labour under Corbyn.
To the north, Castle is the town centre ward, although in fact only a small portion of the electorate live in the town centre proper, as opposed to various estates scattered around it. Up until 2016 the Lib Dems held all the seats here, since then first the Conservatives and then the Greens have taken seats here. Whilst it's unlikely they'll win it in local elections, in a general election Labour does need to win here.
To the north of the railway line sit the wards of Mile End and Highwoods, which are divided from one another by Highwoods Country Park. Mile End, where the hospital is located, is extremely middle class. At a local level it's strongly Lib Dem, but there was a surprise Conservative victory here in the 2015 local elections which must indicate that they carried the ward that year. As general elections re-orientate around a Labour/Conservative contest, I can only assume that will have continued.
Highwoods proper (ie the area around the big Tescos) very likely votes similarly, but the last quarter century has seen a lot of new housing built in the north of the ward, much of which is populated by young families. My assumption is that it still votes Conservative by a decent margin, but rather less than that in Mile End.*
Finally, in the west of town we have the wards of Prettygate and Lexden & Braiswick (although the bulk of the electorate of the latter ward lives in neither of those two areas, but is instead located in villages outside Colchester.) Both areas are solidly and traditionally middle-class and have been securely Conservative for generations.
*Then again, Mile End also has a lot of new housing, but I don't know very much about what it's like so I can't speculate about its electoral behaviour.
