2026 Suffolk County Council election

Main article: Suffolk County Council elections

2026 Suffolk County Council election

←  2021 7 May 2026 (2026-05-07) 2027 (TBD) →
All 70 seats to Suffolk County Council 36 seats needed for a majority
Leader Matthew Hicks Andrew Stringer Sarah Adams Party Conservative Green Labour Last election 55 seats, 47.6% 9 seats, 15.0% 5 seats, 21.3% Current seats 44 [1] 9 6   Leader Christopher Hudson Penny Otton Party Reform Liberal Democrats Independent Last election Did not stand 4 seats, 9.9% 1 seat, 4.5% Current seats 6 5 4   Leader Victor Lukaniuk Party WSI Last election 1 seat, 0.8% Current seats 1
Map showing the new pattern of electoral divisions to be used in the 2026 Suffolk County Council election.
Incumbent Leader Matthew Hicks Conservative

The 2026 Suffolk County Council election is a local government election for Suffolk County Council in England, United Kingdom. It will take place on 7 May 2026 as part of the 2026 local elections.

Overview

The 2026 election for new councillors for Suffolk County Council will take place on 7 May 2026 as part of the 2026 local elections in the United Kingdom. ^[2]

This election will be first taken after the implementation of a review by Local Government Boundary Commission for England which will reduce the number of councillors from 75 to 70. ^[3] All 70 councillors are elected from 69 electoral divisions, which return either one or two county councillors each, by first-past-the-post voting.

Beccles and Kessingland is the only two-member ward, with all other wards being one-member. Voters who live in the two-member division are entitled to cast a maximum of two votes, while those living in the divisions only electing one councillor are only entitled to cast one vote.

The election was postponed from 2025 due to the 2024–present structural changes to local government in England. ^[2]

The government announced plans to further delay the election to 2027, following support from the Conservative administration, but reversed the decision following a legal challenge. ^[4]

Previous composition

2021 election

Party		Seats
	Conservative	55
	Green	9
	Labour	5
	Liberal Democrats	4
	Independent	1
	West Suffolk Independents	1
Total		75

Composition of council seats before election

Party		Seats
	Conservative
	Labour
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
	Independent
	West Suffolk Independents
	Reform
Vacant
Total		75

Changes between elections

See also: Suffolk County Council By-elections 2021-2026

In between the 2021 election and the 2026 election, the following council seats changed hands:

Division	Date	Previous party		New party		Cause	Resulting council composition
							Con	Grn	Lab	LD	Ind	WSI	Ref
2021 Suffolk County Council election							55	9	5	4	1	1	0
Felixstowe Coastal [5]	4 May 2023		Conservative		Liberal Democrats	Sitting councillor died. Liberal Democrats won by-election.	54	9	5	5	1	1	0
Whitehouse & Whitton	6 February 2024		Conservative		Independent	Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member.	53	9	5	5	2	1	0
Pakefield	4 July 2024		Conservative		Labour	Won by-election.	52	9	6	5	2	1	0
Belstead Brook [6]	6 September 2024		Conservative		Reform	Councillor defected to Reform UK.	51	9	6	5	2	1	1
Eastgate & Moreton Hall [7]	21 April 2025		Conservative		Independent	Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member.	51	9	6	5	2	1	1
Whitehouse & Whitton			Independent		Conservative	Councillor rejoined party.
Tower	3 July 2025		Conservative		Reform	Won by-election.	50	9	6	5	2	1	2
Tower	18 September 2025		Conservative		Independent	Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member.	48	9	6	5	3	1	3
Sudbury East and Waldingfield			Conservative		Reform	Councillor defected.
Whitehouse & Whitton	30 September 2025		Conservative		Independent	Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member.	47	9	6	5	4	1	3
Haverhill Cangle	7 October 2025		Conservative		Reform	Councillor defected.	46	9	6	5	4	1	4
Pakefield	23 October 2025		Conservative	Vacant		Councillor died.	45	9	6	5	4	1	4

Summary

Election result

2026 Suffolk County Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative
	Green
	Labour
	Reform
	Liberal Democrats
	Independent
	WSI

Incumbents by local authority

Babergh

Ward	Incumbent councillor	Party		Re-standing
Belstead Brook	Christopher Hudson [a]		Reform
Cosford	Robert Lindsay		Green
Great Cornard	Peter Beer		Conservative
Hadleigh	Mick Fraser		Conservative
Melford	Richard Kemp		Independent
Peninsula	Simon Harley		Green
Samford	Georgia Hall		Conservative
Stour Valley	James Finch		Conservative
Sudbury	Jessie Carter		Green
Sudbury East & Waldingfield	Philip Faircloth-Mutton [a]		Reform

East Suffolk

Division	Incumbent councillor	Party		Re-standing
Aldeburgh & Leiston	TJ Haworth-Cuff		Conservative
Beccles	Caroline Topping		Green
Beccles	Ash Lever [b]		Green
Blything	Richard Smith		Conservative
Bungay	Judy Cloke		Conservative
Carlford	Elaine Bryce		Conservative
Felixstowe Coastal	Seamus Bennett [c]		Liberal Democrats
Felixstowe Coastal	Steve Wiles		Conservative
Felixstowe North & Trimley	Stuart Bird		Conservative
Framlingham	Stephen Burroughes		Conservative
Gunton	Ryan Harvey		Conservative
Gunton	James Reader		Conservative
Halesworth	Annette Dunning		Green
Kesgrave & Rushmere St Andrew	Stuart Lawson		Conservative
Kesgrave & Rushmere St Andrew	Debbie McCallum		Conservative
Kessingland & Southwold	Michael Ladd		Conservative
Lowestoft South	Jenny Ceresa		Conservative
Lowestoft South	Jamie Starling		Conservative
Martlesham	Patti Mulcahy [a]		Reform
Oulton	Keith Robinson		Conservative
Oulton	Edward Back		Conservative
Pakefield	Peter Byatt [d]		Labour
Pakefield	June Mummery [e]		Reform
Wickham	Alexander Nicoll		Conservative
Wilford	Andrew Reid		Conservative
Woodbridge	Ruth Leach [f]		Liberal Democrats

Ipswich

Ward	Incumbent councillor	Party		Re-standing
Bixley	Paul West		Conservative
Bridge	Rob Bridgeman		Labour
Chantry	Nadia Cenci		Conservative
Chantry	Nathan Wilson		Conservative
Gainsborough	Liz Harsant		Conservative
Priory Heath	Lucy Smith [g]		Labour
Rushmere	Sandy Martin		Labour Co-op
St Helen's	Elizabeth Farrow		Labour
St John's	Adele Cook [h]		Labour Co-op
St Margaret's & Westgate	Inga Lockington		Liberal Democrats
St Margaret's & Westgate	Debbie Richards		Conservative
Whitehouse & Whitton	Sam Murray [i]		Independent
Whitehouse & Whitton	David Goldsmith		Conservative

Mid Suffolk

Ward	Incumbent councillor	Party		Re-standing
Bosmere	Kay Oakes		Conservative
Gipping Valley	Chris Chambers		Conservative
Hartismere	Jessica Fleming		Conservative
Hoxne & Eye	Henry Lloyd		Conservative
Stowmarket North & Stowupland	Keith Welham		Green
Stowmarket South	Keith Scarff		Liberal Democrats
Thedwastre North	Andy Mellan		Green
Thedwastre South	Penny Otton		Liberal Democrats
Thredling	Matthew Hicks		Conservative
Upper Gipping	Andrew Stringer		Green

West Suffolk

Ward	Incumbent councillor	Party		Re-standing
Blackbourn	Joanna Spicer		Conservative
Brandon	Victor Lukaniuk		WSI
Clare	Bobby Bennett		Conservative
Eastgate & Moreton Hall	Peter Thompson		Independent
Exning & Newmarket	Rachel Hood		Conservative
Hardwick	Richard Rout		Conservative
Haverhill Cangle	Joe Mason		Conservative
Haverhill Cangle	Heike Sowa [a]		Reform
Haverhill East & Kedlington	David Roach		Conservative
Mildenhall	Lance Stanbury		Conservative
Newmarket & Red Lodge	Andy Drummond		Conservative
Row Heath	Colin Noble		Conservative
Thingoe North	Beccy Hopfensperger		Conservative
Thingoe South	Karen Soons		Conservative
Tower	David Nettleton [i]		Independent
Tower	Martin Robinson [j]		Reform

Footnotes

1. Originally elected as a Conservative, but later defected to Reform.
2. Elected at the 2022 Beccles by-election.
3. Elected at the 2023 Felixstowe Coastal by-election.
4. Elected at the 2024 Pakefield by-election.
5. Elected at the 2025 Pakefield by-election.
6. Elected at the 2023 Woodbridge by-election.
7. Elected at the 2023 Priory Heath by-election.
8. Elected at the 2025 St John's by-election.
9. Originally elected as a Conservative, but left the party to sit as an Independent.
10. Elected at the 2025 Tower by-election.

References

1. "Suffolk Council Composition: Latest". opencouncildata.co.uk. Open Council Data UK. Archived from the original on 19 February 2026. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
2. Irwin, Vikki (5 November 2025). "Local elections 'should go ahead in May'". BBC News.
3. "LGBCE | Suffolk County Council | LGBCE Site". www.lgbce.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
4. "Government abandons plans to delay 30 council elections". BBC News. 16 February 2026.
5. "Suffolk County Council councillor of 17 years dies after short illness". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
6. "Suffolk councillor Christopher Hudson joins Reform". eadt.co.uk. East Anglian Daily Times. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
7. Derrick, Paul (19 May 2023). "Former Bury St Edmunds mayor Peter Thompson quits Conservative Party but will carry on as Independent as "there's still work that needs to be done"". Suffolk News. Retrieved 2 January 2024.