2021 Suffolk County Council election

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2021 Suffolk County Council election

 2017
6 May 2021
2026 

All 75 seats to Suffolk County Council
38 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Matthew Hicks Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw Sarah Adams
Party Conservative Green Labour
Leader since 11 May 2018 7 May 2019 December 2017
Leader's seat Thredling Beccles (Retiring) St John's
Last election 52 seats, 46.3% 3 seats, 6.0% 11 seats, 20.7%
Seats before 48 3 11
Seats won 55 9 5
Seat change Increase 3 Increase 6 Decrease 6
Popular vote 124,969 39,283 55,973
Percentage 47.6% 15.0% 21.3%
Swing Increase 1.3% Increase 6.8% Increase 0.6%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Penny Otton N/A Victor Lukaniuk
Party Liberal Democrats Independent WSI
Leader since 7 May 2019 N/A May 2017
Leader's seat Thedwastre South N/A Brandon
Last election 5 seats, 10.5% 3 seats, 4.3% 1 seats, 0.9%
Seats before 5 6 1
Seats won 4 1 1
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 2 Steady
Popular vote 25,885 11,723 1,959
Percentage 9.9% 4.5% 0.8%
Swing Decrease 3.8% Decrease 0.2% Decrease 0.1%

Map showing the results of the 2021 Suffolk County Council election

Makeup of council after the election

Leader before election

Matthew Hicks
Conservative

Leader after election

Matthew Hicks
Conservative

The 2021 Suffolk County Council election took place on 6 May 2021 as part of the 2021 local elections in the United Kingdom.[1] All 75 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions, which return either one or two county councillors each, by first-past-the-post voting, for a four-year term of office.

Voters who live in divisions which elect two councillors (12 divisions) are entitled to cast a maximum of two votes, while those living in divisions only electing one councillor (51 divisions) are only entitled to cast one vote.

The council is subject to a Local Government Boundary Commission for England review where it is proposed to reduce the number of councillors from 75 to 70. The recommendations were due to be implemented at this election but were deferred to the scheduled 2025 Suffolk County Council election owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

2017 election

Party Seats
Conservative 52
Labour 11
Liberal Democrats 5
Green 3
Independent 3
West Suffolk Independents 1
Total 75

Composition of council seats before election

Party Seats
Conservative 48
Labour 11
Liberal Democrats 5
Green 3
Independent 6
West Suffolk Independents 1
Vacant 1
Total 75

Changes between elections

In between the 2017 election and the 2021 election, the following council seats changed hands outside of by-elections:

Division Date Previous Party New Party Cause Resulting Council Composition
Con Lab LDem Grn Ind WSI
Gunton 2 August 2018[3] Conservative Independent Councillor expelled from the party. 51115341
Haverhill Cangle 21 February 2019[4] Conservative Independent Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member. 50115351
Tower 4 December 2019[5] Independent Conservative Independent Councillor joined Conservatives. 51115341
Carlford 9 June 2020[6] Conservative Vacant Sitting councillor resigned.[7] 50115341
Thedwastre North 4 December 2020[8] Conservative Independent Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member. 49115351
Hoxne & Eye 9 April 2021[9] Conservative Independent Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member. 48115361

Summary

The county saw a marked contrast between its rural and urban areas. The ruling Conservative administration made 8 gains across Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft, but lost 5 divisions in rural Suffolk that it had won four years earlier and was traditionally stronger. The Green Party replaced Labour as the second largest party, and the latter were subsequently relegated to 5 seats. The Liberal Democrats continued their descent after making losses in 2013 and 2017, with a further loss. The Independents also finished one seat lower than 2017. With 55 seats, the Conservatives were subsequently returned for a fifth term in office and scored their joint second best number of seats (equalling 2009) since the council was created in 1973.

Election result

2021 Suffolk County Council election
Party Candidates Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 74 55 8 5 Increase 3 73.3 48.0 124,949 +1.7
  Green 59 9 6 0 Increase 6 12.0 15.1 39,283 +6.9
  Labour 74 5 0 6 Decrease 6 6.7 21.5 55,973 +0.8
  Liberal Democrats 51 4 1 2 Decrease 1 5.3 9.9 25,885 –3.8
  Independent 25 1 0 2 Decrease 2 1.3 4.5 11,723 +0.2
  WSI 3 1 0 0 Steady 1.3 0.8 1,959 –0.1
  Communist 2 0 0 0 Steady 0.1 0.1 293 N/A
  Burning Pink 1 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 0.1 168 N/A
Total 289 75 260,233

Election of Group Leaders

Matthew Hicks (Thredling) was re-elected leader of the Conservative Group, with Richard Rout (Hardwick) as his deputy.

Andrew Stringer (Upper Gipping) was elected leader of the joint Green, Lib Dem and Independent group, with Robert Lindsay (Cosford) as his deputy.[10]

Sarah Adams (St John's) was re-elected leader of the Labour Group, with Sandy Martin (Rushmere) as her deputy.

Election of Leader of the Council

Matthew Hicks the leader of the Conservative group was duly elected leader of the council and formed a Conservative administration.

Results by district

Post-election changes

References

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