Local election results in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk

Local elections have been held in every district, city, borough and unitary council in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

• The Greens won control of Mid Suffolk and it becomes the first ever council run by the Green Party with an overall majority

• The Conseravtives lost control of councils with seemingly-secure majorities in Broadland, East and West Suffolk along with Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn & West Norfolk and Brentwood

• In early results the Conservatives had some crumbs of comfort as they increased their majorities in Harlow and Basildon and they gained a seat in Southend

• The Conservative came close to losing their majority in Braintree as their overall majority was slashed from 18 to just three. And it was a similar picture in South Norfolk where the Tories retain control by the smallest possible margin

• The Liberal Democrats retained their overall majorities in Chelmsford and North Norfolk

Although local elections are held every year in the Anglia region, this year is the largest number of the four-year election cycle.

In some places one third of the seats on the councils were contested and in others the entire council faced election.

The election results for every council election in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk is listed below

• ESSEX

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

BASILDON RESULT

The Conservative have increased their majority on Basildon Council by gaining a seat from an Independent.

In the May 2021 local elections, the Conservatives won back the overall majority on the council that 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. The Tories now have a majority of 10 overall all the other parties.

Labour last had a ruling majority from 1996 until 2000.

Fourteen of the 42 council seats were up for election

BRAINTREE RESULT

The Conservative overall majority of 18 was cut to just three as the party lost seven seats and came close to losing power in Braintree. The council was run by Labour between 1995 and 2002 but went hung until 2007 when the Tories won it back. Labour made six gains in 2023.

One of the local issues affecting the area was 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. It proved an issue for voters with two Independents winning seats from the Conservative in the area.

The Greens lost two seats on the council.

All 49 seats on the council were up for election

BRENTWOOD RESULT

Tories lost their majority in Brentwood as the Liberal Democrats made three gains.

The council is now hung with the Liberal Democrats holding the same number of seats as the Conservatives and Labour having the balance of power.

The Tories had held an overall majority since 2015 and the Lib Dems were last in power in Brentwood in 2003.

Thirteen of the 37 council seats were up for election

CASTLE POINT RESULT

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 and together they increased their majority in 2023 gaining six seats from the Conservatives.

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.

Fourteen of the 41 council seats were up for election

CHELMSFORD RESULT

The Liberal Democrats were defending a slender majority of just three but increased it to nine with an additional three councillors gains.

The Lib Dems were returned to power four years ago after demolishing a huge Tory majority. The Lib Dems had their last overall majority between 1995 and 1999.

The Conservative were the majority party from 2003 until 2019.

All of the 57 council seats were up for election

COLCHESTER RESULT

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.

And the situation remains the same in the new city with no change to the overall balance of power in 2023.

Seventeen of the 51 council seats were up for election

EPPING FOREST RESULT

Epping Forest has been in Conservative control since 2007 - and after the 2023 election now has a working majority of 10.

The largest opposition grouping is the Loughton Residents Association.

Eighteen of the 58 council seat were up for election

HARLOW RESULT

The Conservatives have solidified the majority on Harlow Council that they won in 2021 but gaining an extra seat from Labour.

Labour had been in control of Harlow for nearly a decade from 2012.

The Tories now have a working majority of nine.

Eleven of the 33 council seats were up for election

MALDON RESULT

Maldon is a hung council after the May 2023 elections with no one party having enough councillors to out-vote all the other parties. Independents are the largest group despite losing two seats. The Liberal Democrats made five gains.

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 were up for election

ROCHFORD RESULT

This south Essex council had been in Conservative control for two decades although it recently had become hung before the May 2023 election. It remains under no overall control as the Tories lost four seats and the Lib Dems gained three.

The Liberal Democrats had a brief taste of power in 1994-98.

Thirteen of the 39 council seats were up for election

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA RESULT

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

Before the 2023 election it was a hung council run as a joint administration by Labour, Lib Dems and Independents although the Conservative were the biggest single party. Labour made two gains this year but the Conservatives also gained one and a new Green councillor was elected.

There is likely to be no change in the running of the council.

Seventeen of the 51 council seats were 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 RESULT

Labour has cut the Conservative majority on Thurrock Council but failed to deprive them of their overall majority which is now cut to three.

Labour gained five seats with the Conservatives losing three and the Independents down two.

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

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.

16 of the 49 council seats were up for election

UTTLESFORD RESULT

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. Their majority was reduced to five in May 2023.

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 were up for election

• NORFOLK

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

BRECKLAND RESULT

The Conservatives remain in control of Breckland Council in mid Norfolk despite losing seven seats. Their overall majority was cut from 20 to 11. Labour gained five new councillors.

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.

All 49 council seats were up for election

BROADLAND RESULT

Broadland Council has been Conservative for much of the time since the 1970s but no longer after the Tories lost eight seats.

The Conservative remain the largest party on a hung council - but Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens would have enough seats together to outvote them.

The last time the council was hung was from 1994 until 1999.

All 47 council seats were up for election

GREAT YARMOUTH RESULT

The Conservatives lost their working majority in Great Yarmouth for the first time since 2018 as Labour gained four seats.

The Tories are still the largest party group on the council but two Independent councillors hold the balance of power and will effectively decide whether Labour or the Conservatives get their policies through.

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. UKIP once had a strong presence on the seaside local authority.

All 39 council seats were up for election

KING'S LYNN & WEST NORFOLK RESULT

The Conservatives lost control of the council which is now hung with no overall control. The Conservatives lost eight seats while Independents gained four.

The Conservatives remain the largest group but it will be Independent councillors who hold the balance of power.

The council had effectively been under Conservative control since 2003. Labour has only had an overall majority in King's Lynn and West Norfolk between 1995 and 1999.

All 55 council seats were up for election

NORTH NORFOLK RESULT

The Liberal Democrats won back control of North Norfolk council at the 2019 election after losing to the Conservatives in 2011. In 2023 they remain in power with an overall majority of 10.

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.

All 40 council seats were up for election

NORWICH RESULT

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

This year the Labour majority was cut to seven after the Greens took a pair of council seats off hem.

There have been no Conservative representatives on Norwich City Council for more than a decade.

Thirteen of the 39 council seats were up for election

SOUTH NORFOLK RESULT

The Conservatives came close to losing an overall majority in South Norfolk which they have held since 2007. Their majority was cut from 18 to the smallest possible margin of two.

The Conservatives lost eight seats while Labour gained eight.

The Liberal Democrats were in power from 1995 until 2007

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 were up for election

• SUFFOLK

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

BABERGH RESULT

The Green Party made six gains in Babergh and become the largest party group. The council is now finely balanced and parties will still have to work together to get their policies through.

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

The Tories lost three seats in 2023 and Independents lost five.

All 32 council seats were up for election

EAST SUFFOLK RESULT

The Green Party are also now the largest group in East Suffolk after the Conservatives were knocked from power as their overall majority of 23 disappeared.

Greens gained 11 seats while the Conservatives lost 24. The council is now hung so the Greens would have to form an arrangement with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats or others to form an administration.

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

All 55 council seats were up for election

IPSWICH RESULT

Labour increased their hold on Ipswich Council gaining an extra seat from the Conservative and boosting their overall majority to 18.

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

Ipswich currently has a Conservative MP but it is one of the parliamentary seats Labour needs to win if it is to be able to form a government at the next General Election.

Sixteen of the 48 council seats were up for election

MID SUFFOLK RESULT

This was the crowning glory of the 2023 elections for the Green Party - the first council in the UK that they can run with a working overall majority.

The Greens made 12 gains and now have a majority of 14 over all the other parties. The Conservatives lost ten seats.

All 34 council seats were up for election

WEST SUFFOLK RESULT

Another Conservative council lost to No Overall Control in the ITV Anglia region in 2023.

A Tory majority of 17 was demolished as Labour gained an additional 12 councillors. A total of 12 Conservative councillors lost their seats.

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

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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