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

Local elections are being held on every district, city, borough and unitary council in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk on Thursday 4 May 2023.

Although local elections are held every year in the Anglia region, this year is the largest number of the four-year election cycle. It will be the biggest test of political opinion ahead of a General Election expected some time next year.

Overall across the entire Anglia region 4,500 candidates are campaigning to be elected to more than 1,400 council seats on 44 local authorities.

In some places one third of the seats on the councils are being contested and in others it is the entire council facing election.

• ESSEX

Every district and unitary council in Essex has local elections on Thursday 4 May 2023.

BASILDON

In the May 2021 local elections, the Conservatives won back the overall majority on Basildon council they previously lost in 2019.

A year later in the 2022 elections they retained that majority of eight over all the other parties so a net loss of four seat who see the council going hung again.

Labour last had a ruling majority from 1996 until 2000.

14 of the 42 council seats are up for election

BRAINTREE

Braintree Council currently has a sizeable Conservative majority of 18. It was run by Labour between 1995 and 2002 but went hung until 2007 when the Tories won back earlier.

One of the local issues affecting the area is the decision by the government to house asylum seekers on the former RAF station at Wethersfield. It is a move rejected as inappropriate by the local Conservative MP and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

The second biggest political group on the council is the Greens with one of the region's longest serving Green councillors.

All 49 seats on the council are up for election

BRENTWOOD

The Conservative majority was cut on Brentwood Council in last year’s local elections with the Liberal Democrats making two gains.

The Tories are currently in a precarious position with a working majority of only two and would lose power with the net loss of one seat.

The Liberal Democrats are the main opposition party and would need five net gains to win a majority of their own. The party was last in power in Brentwood in 2003.

13 of the 37 council seats are up for election

CASTLE POINT

Castle Point Council covers the Canvey Island, South Benfleet and Thundersley area of south Essex.

It is run by two groups of Independent councillors - the Canvey Island Independent Party and the People's Independent.

Until 2022, the Conservatives had a slender majority and had run the council for most of the previous two decades. Labour last had an overall majority from 1995 until 2003.

14 of the 41 council seats are up for election

CHELMSFORD

The Liberal Democrats are defending a slender majority of just three. They were returned to power four years ago after demolishing a huge Tory majority. The Lib Dems had tehir last overall majority between 1995 and 1999.

The Conservative were the majority party from 2003 until 2019 and would need to main eight gains to win back power.

All of the 57 council seats are up for election

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.

After the Conservatives lost four seats in 2022 a power-sharing partnership of Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens took over.

No party is likely to be in a position to have an overall majority after this election.

17 of the 51 council seats are up for election

EPPING FOREST

Epping Forest has been in Conservative control since 2007 - currently with a working majority of 11.

The largest opposition grouping is the Loughton Residents Association.

18 of the 58 council seat are up for election

HARLOW

The Conservative saw one of their greatest 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 seven and Labour face an uphill task to win back control.

11 of the 33 council seats are up for election

MALDON

The Conservatives just retained power in Maldon at the last election in 2019 but have lost their overall majority since and the councils is now hung but with a strong Independent presence.

The Tories would need to net gains to restore their working majority.

All 31 council seats are up for election

ROCHFORD

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

The Tories would need to make a couple of gains to restore their overall majority.

13 of the 39 council seats are up for election

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 five net gains for power. Labour are the next biggest party and would need 11 gains for a majority.

A new independent political party called Confelicity is contesting all the wards in this election as it did last year.

17 of the 51 council seats are up for election

TENDRING

Tendring council in the Clacton and Harwich area of Essex has effectively been a hung council since the 2015 election although there was a Conservative majority from 2011.

At the height of its popularity, this was one of UKIP's strongest bases after the local MP Douglas Carswell defected from the Tories and became the party's first elected MP in 2014.

Labour last ran the council from 1995 until 1999.

All 48 council seats are up for election

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.

The council has recently run into financial difficulties asking for a loan of more than half a billion pounds from the government to help balance the books.

The Conservatives would lose their majority with 5 net losses but Labour would need 11 gains to take power.

16 of the 49 council seats are up for election

UTTLESFORD

Uttlesford in the Saffron Walden and Stansted area of Essex is the only council in the region to be run by a single grouping of Independents. Residents for Uttlesford won a spectacular victory in 2019 with a majority of 17 seats.

The Conservatives, who had been running the council since 2007, lost 20 seats here at the last election. The Lib Dems ran the council between 2003 and 2007.

All 39 council seats are up for election

• NORFOLK

All seven district councils in Norfolk have elections in 2023 but in Norwich only one-third of the council seats are up for grabs.

BRECKLAND

Breckland Council has been a Conservative council for most of its existence as a local authority but it did go hung between 1995 until 1999 during the first Labour government under Tony Blair.

The Tories are defending a majority of more than 20 seats.

All 49 council seats are up for election

BROADLAND

The Conservative would lose control of Broadland Council with the net loss of six seats. The council was hung from 1994 until 1999 but has been Conservative for most of the time.

The Tories have an overall majority of 11 seats and the main opposition are the Liberal Democrats.

All 47 council seats are up for election

GREAT YARMOUTH

In the 1990s, Great Yarmouth was a stalwart Labour council but the party lost to the Conservatives in 2000 and only returned to power for a brief period in 2012.

The Conservatives have effectively had an overall majority since 2018 although UKIP once had a strong presence on the seaside local authority.

The Tories are defending a slender majority of just three seats but Labour would need to make six net gains to win back power.

All 39 council seats are up for election

KING'S LYNN & WEST NORFOLK

The council has effectively been under Conservative control since 2003 although now it its hold is by the tightest margin of just three seats.

Labour has only had an overall majority in King's Lynn and West Norfolk between 1995 and 1999.

All 55 council seats are up for election

NORTH NORFOLK

The Liberal Democrats won back control of North Norfolk council at the 2019 election after losing to the Conservatives in 2011.

The area had a long-serving Liberal Democrat MP in Norman Lamb from 2001 until 2019 when he retired. Duncan Baker then won back the constituency for the Conservatives.

The Lib Dems will be fighting to retain their overall majority which currently stands at eight.

All 40 council seats are up for election

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 11 looks secure and there have been no Conservative representatives on Norwich City Council for more than a decade.

13 of the 39 council seats are up for election

SOUTH NORFOLK

Has been a Conservative council since 2007 when they took over from the Liberal Democrats who were in power from 1995.

Labour had made a resurgence in some parts of the area in recent years but the Conservatives currently have a fairly solid looking majority of 18 seats.

All 46 council seats are up for election

• SUFFOLK

All five district councils in Suffolk have elections in 2023 but in Ipswich only one-third of the council seats are up for grabs.

BABERGH

The Conservatives lost their overall majority in Babergh in south Suffolk just before the last election in 2019 but remain part of the current ruling coalition on the hung council.

The Tories would need seven net gain to win back at outright majority although Babergh has been hung for most of its existence as a local authority.

The Green Party won four seats in 2019 and are strong in neighbouring Mid Suffolk

All 32 council seats are up for election

EAST SUFFOLK

East Suffolk was formed as a merger of the old Waveney and Suffolk Coastal councils in 2019 and encapulated the entire Suffolk coast from Lowestoft south to Felixstowe. It is home to the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station.

The Conservatives won a sizeable majority in the first election four years ago and currently have an overall majority of 23.

In the past, the Labour party ran the old Waveney area through the 1990s.

All 55 council seats are up for election

IPSWICH

Labour have been in power in Ipswich since 2011 but saw their overall majority slashed to 12 in the May 2021 local elections but they bounced back slightly a year later

Labour currently have a reasonably secure majority of 17. 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.

16 of the 48 council seats are up for election

MID SUFFOLK

A hung council with a strong Green presence although it is currently run by Conservatives and Independents.

The Green Party are targeting the area with the aim of winning their first-ever majority council and would need six net gains to achieve their ambition. The Conservatives, on the other hand, could achieved their own majority by winning two extra seats and not losing any.

All 34 council seats are up for election

WEST SUFFOLK

The council was formed in 2019 from the merger of the old districts of Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury.

There is currently a solid-looking overall majority of 17 for the Conservatives but in the past Labour has had a brief hold on power in the Bury St Edmunds area.

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who lost the Conservative whip in the House of Commons for appearing on ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, is the MP for part of this area.

All 64 council seats are up for election

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