Labour secures best Ipswich Council election result for 25 years
They gained five seats - including two from the Conservatives
The Labour Party has seen huge gains in Ipswich — its strongest result in 25 years.
Prospective councillors of all colours, incumbent or otherwise, gathered in the Town Hall as the counting of the votes started just after half past midnight.
Heading into the result announcements, Labour already ran the council comfortably, holding 31 out of 48 seats.
This time around, 18 seats were up for grabs across all 16 of the borough’s wards — Labour defended eight, the Conservatives had four, the Lib Dems hung on to one, and three were independents.
In the end, after nearly three hours, Labour came out on top for the third time in a row, gaining seven seats, bringing their total to 38 — their best result since 1999, when they had 37 councillors in power.
Two of these seats, in St John’s and Priory Heath, had been vacated but were previously held by Labour, three seats, in Sprites, Whitton, and Gainsborough, were gained from Independent councillors who were elected in 2021 as Tories, and a further two, in Stoke Park and Holywells, were stolen straight from the Conservatives.
Labour’s Cllr Neil MacDonald, who got re-elected in the early hours of this morning to continue as council leader, said the newly-elected councillors would be great for the area.
He added: “On the doorstep, people are desperate for a general election in order to get rid of the Conservatives and that helped us tonight.
“It’s a fantastic result, it’s a reward for our hard work across the town.”
The Conservatives, on the other hand, left the Town Hall disappointed with their seven-seat presence in the council slimmed down to five — made worse by the failure to regain the three seats held by Independents who left the Tory party since 2021.
Cllr Ian Fisher, the leader of the Conservatives, was also re-elected but said the Tories’ poor performance nationally led to a tough election night.
He got elected in 2021 with 1,331 votes but saw his majority slashed since then to win on a 77-vote difference, with 827 votes from Castle Hill residents.
Cllr Fisher added: “This probably matches where I thought we’d be at tonight, I don’t think there is a single Conservative that came here expecting us to have a raft of victories.
“We’ve got some good building blocks, we’ve got to continue to restore faith and give the public a brand of conservativism they feel they can come out and vote for.”
Outside of the main two political parties, the Liberal Democrats managed to hold on to their only defended seat.
Cllr Oliver Holmes, who leads the Lib Dems, won St Margaret’s ward with 1,431 votes, nearly triple that of the runner-up, and said he would focus on making sure the town centre is improved.
He added: “It’s a result of really working with residents over the last year, trying to get their interests and really just work as a community.
“It’s a question of really engaging with people and taking their on board their concerns, and I think that’s what we’ve missed over the last few years.”
Both the Greens and Reform failed to have any member elected, with the best result coming from Alexandra ward where the former managed to gather 599 votes.
The new make-up of the council has Labour leading with 38 seats, the Conservatives as the main opposition with seven seats, and the Lib Dems with three.
Full election results:
St. Margaret’s Ward:
CON – 477
LAB – 559
LIB DEM – 1,431
GREEN – 341
Oliver James Holmes elected.
Bridge Ward:
CON – 450
REFORM UK – 184
GREEN – 166
LAB – 780
LIB DEM – 108
Bryony Rudkin elected.
Westgate Ward:
LIB DEM – 235
LAB – 935
CON – 370
GREEN – 147
Carole Jones elected.
Whitton Ward:
LAB – 812
CON – 555
REFORM UK – 265
LIB DEM – 93
GREEN – 105
Patricia Bruce-Browne elected.
Gainsborough Ward:
REFORM UK – 186
LIB DEM – 60
CON – 411
IND – 86
LAB – 764
GREEN – 100
James Whatling elected.
Holywells Ward:
LIB DEM – 165
LAB – 1,041
CON – 704
GREEN – 205
Nic El-Safty elected.
Priory Heath Ward (2 seats):
LAB – 805
LAB– 909
CON – 485
CON – 431
LIB DEM – 101
GREEN – 195
GREEN – 188
Roxanne Deborah Downes and Owen Leslie Bartholomew elected.
St. John’s Ward (2 seats):
CON – 698
CON – 542
LAB – 1,172
LAB – 1,162
GREEN – 333
LIB DEM – 273
Corinna Hope Hudson and Neil Edward MacDonald elected.
Stoke Park Ward:
GREEN – 172
CON – 702
LAB – 765
LIB DEM – 76
Chu Man elected.
Castle Hill Ward:
LAB – 750
CON – 827
GREEN – 143
LIB DEM – 345
Ian Fisher elected.
Bixley Ward:
LAB – 788
GREEN – 239
CON – 1,053
LIB DEM – 132
Lee Chadwick Reynolds elected.
Sprites Ward:
CON – 618
GREEN – 124
LAB – 769
LIB DEM – 54
Philip McSweeney elected.
Alexandra Ward:
GREEN – 599
LAB – 1,125
LIB DEM – 123
CON – 401
Adam Rae elected.
Gipping Ward:
LAB – 878
CON – 442
GREEN – 159
LIB DEM – 95
David Ellesmere elected.
Whitehouse Ward:
LAB – 754
GREEN– 106
REFORM UK – 91
CON – 303
LIB DEM – 69
Tracey Grant elected.