Constituency view

Colchester

East of England, England

Lab gain from Con

Current MP

Current representation

Pam Cox

Labour

Female

Majority8,250

Turnout57.1%

Electorate78,662

Valid votes44,903

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour18,804 - 41.9%

Conservative10,554 - 23.5%

Reform6,664 - 14.8%

Lib Dem6,393 - 14.2%

Green2,414 - 5.4%

Other74 - 0.2%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£260,458,617

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£2,171 total benefits bill per resident · 4% below average

Colchester: £2,171
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 275 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£260,458,617	216/575
Change over 2 years	+23.3%
Median local wage (2025)	£39,353	+15.3%

Universal Credit£151,156,663
£1,260 per resident · 12,140 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 4,142 · 1 in 19 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£53,309,518
£444 per resident · 7,287 claimants (+23.2% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,441 · 47% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 3,497
Disability Living Allowance£20,401,113
£170 per resident · 3,422 claimants
Housing Benefit£19,836,672
£165 per resident · 2,222 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£7,953,140
£66 per resident · 1,216 claimants
Carer's Allowance£7,801,511
£65 per resident · 1,802 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 83.5%White British 75.7%Asian 6.8%Black, African or Caribbean 4.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 3.4%Other 1.9%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 90.0%White British 84.7%Asian 4.7%Black, African or Caribbean 1.9%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.2%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 95.5%White British 92.1%Asian 2.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.5%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 97.1%White British N/AAsian 1.6%Black, African or Caribbean 0.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Colchester (2021)

UK 81.5%Other EU 7.7%Other countries 10.8%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Colchester (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 4.7%Other countries 8.7%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Colchester (2001)

UK 91.7%Other EU 2.8%Other countries 5.5%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Colchester (1991)

UK 92.9%Other EU 3.3%Other countries 3.8%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

Colchester

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Colchester	National	Difference	Rank
% White	83.5%	83.0%	+0.5pp	445/650
% White British	75.7%	74.4%	+1.3pp	416/632
% Asian	6.8%	8.6%	-1.8pp	235/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	4.3%	3.7%	+0.6pp	153/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	3.4%	2.7%	+0.7pp	167/650
% Other ethnic group	1.9%	2.0%	-0.0pp	194/650
% UK-born	81.5%	84.0%	-2.4pp	477/650
% Non-UK-born	18.5%	16.0%	+2.4pp	174/650
% Other EU-born	7.7%	6.0%	+1.7pp	144/650
% Other countries-born	10.8%	10.1%	+0.7pp	190/650
% Christian	42.4%	46.7%	-4.3pp	449/575
% Muslim	2.5%	6.3%	-3.8pp	257/575
% Hindu	1.7%	1.6%	+0.1pp	133/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	366/575
% Jewish	0.2%	0.5%	-0.3pp	193/575
% Buddhist	0.9%	0.4%	+0.4pp	45/575
% Other religion	0.7%	0.6%	+0.1pp	113/575
% No religion	45.4%	37.0%	+8.4pp	63/575
% Religion not stated	6.2%	6.0%	+0.2pp	190/575
% Has any religion	48.4%	57.0%	-8.6pp	515/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Colchester

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.