What you need to know about the local elections in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk

There are local council elections on Thursday 5 May in Essex in Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock

In Norfolk, the only area with local election is Norwich City Council and in Suffolk, the only area is Ipswich Borough Council.

In all of these districts only one-third of the council seats are up for election.

Overall across the entire Anglia region nearly 1,400 candidates are campaigning to be elected to more than 420 council seats on 20 local authorities.

  • BASILDON

In the May 2021 local elections, the Conservatives won back the overall majority on Basildon council they previously lost in 2019. They currently have a majority of eight over all the other parties having gained four additional council seats last year.

14 of the 42 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • BRENTWOOD

The Conservatives increased their majority on Brentwood Council in last year’s local elections and currently have a working majority of nine. The Liberal Democrats are the main opposition party.

13 of the 37 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • CASTLE POINT

This council covers the Canvey Island, South Benfleet and Thundersley area of south Essex. The Conservatives have a slender majority but with strong opposition in the Canvey Island Independent Party which holds nearly all the council seats on the island.

14 of the 41 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • COLCHESTER

Colchester Borough Council has effectively been a hung council since 1998 with no one party having enough seats to out-vote all the others but the Tories took over power with support from Highwoods Independents in May 2021.

The Conservatives would need three net gains for an overall majority.

18 of the 51 seats on the council are up for election in May

Nearly 1,400 candidates are standing to be elections to more than 400 council seats across the Anglia region Credit: ITV News Anglia

  • EPPING FOREST

Epping Forest has been in Conservative control since 2007 currently with a working majority of 13. The largest opposition grouping is the Loughton Residents Association.

20 of the 58 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • HARLOW

The Conservative saw one of their great victories of 2021 in Harlow snatching control of the council directly from Labour who had been in power since 2012.

The Tories currently have a working majority of eight and Labour face an uphill task to wrest back control.

12 of the 33 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • IPSWICH

Labour have been in power in Ipswich since 2011 but saw their overall majority slashed to 12 in the May 2021 local elections.

Labour would lose power if they suffer an additional four net losses this year. The Conservatives are the main opposition party on the council and took the largest share of the vote at the 2021 local elections. The party won the parliamentary seat from Labour at the 2019 General Election.

17 of the 48 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • NORWICH

Labour have had an overall majority in Norwich since 2012 and there is a strong Green Party opposition presence on the City Council.

Labour’s majority of 13 looks secure and there are no Conservative representatives on Norwich City Council for more than a decade.

13 of the 39 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • ROCHFORD

This south Essex council has been in Conservative control for two decades although the Liberal Democrats had a brief taste of power in 1994-98.

There is currently a Tory overall majority of 15 seats.

13 of the 39 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • SOUTHEND-ON-SEA

Southend is one of only two unitary authorities in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk meaning a single council runs all the local services.

It is a hung council run as a joint administration by Labour, Lib Dems and Independents although the Conservative are the biggest single party. The Tories would need three net gains for power. A new independent political party called Confelicity is contesting all the wards in this election.

18 of the 51 seats on the council are up for election in May

  • THURROCK

Thurrock is the other of only two unitary authorities in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk meaning a single council runs all the local services.

The Conservatives won back an overall majority here at some point between the 2019 election and the 2021 election. Labour lost their overall majority in 2014 after UKIP gained five seats. UKIP used to have a strong presence in Thurrock.

16 of the 49 seats on the council are up for election in May