2026 Suffolk County Council election

2026 Suffolk County Council election

←  2021 7 May 2026 2029 →
All 70 seats to Suffolk County Council 36 seats needed for a majority
Leader Matthew Hicks Andrew Stringer Sarah Adams Party Conservative Green Labour Leader since 11 May 2018 14 May 2021 December 2017 Leader's seat Thredling Upper Gipping St John's Last election 55 seats, 47.6% 9 seats, 15.0% 5 seats, 21.3% Current seats 45 9 6   Leader Penny Otton Victor Lukaniuk Party Liberal Democrats Independent WSI Leader since 7 May 2019 May 2017 Leader's seat Thedwastre South Brandon Last election 4 seats, 9.9% 1 seats, 4.5% 1 seats, 0.8% Current seats 5 4 1   Leader Christopher Hudson Party Reform Leader's seat Belstead Brook Last election Did not contest Current seats 4
Map showing the new pattern of electoral divisions for the Suffolk County Council area.
Incumbent Leader Matt Hicks Conservative

The 2026 Suffolk County Council election will take place on 7 May 2026 as part of the 2026 local elections in the United Kingdom. ^[1]

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. ^[2] 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. ^[1]

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 [3]	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 [4]	6 September 2024		Conservative		Reform	Councillor defected to Reform UK.	51	9	6	5	2	1	1
Eastgate & Moreton Hall [5]	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

Overall results

2026 Suffolk County Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative
	Labour
	Liberal Democrats
	Green
	Independent
	West Suffolk Independents

Results summaries by district

Babergh

Babergh District Summary

Party		Seats	+/-	Votes	%	+/-
	Conservative
	Liberal Democrat
	Labour
	Independent
	Green
Total

East Suffolk

East Suffolk District Summary

Party		Seats	+/-	Votes	%	+/-
	Conservative
	Liberal Democrat
	Green
	Labour
Total

Ipswich

Ipswich Borough Summary

Party		Seats	+/-	Votes	%	+/-
	Labour
	Conservative
	Liberal Democrat
	Green
	Independent
Total

Mid Suffolk

Mid Suffolk District Summary

Party		Seats	+/-	Votes	%	+/-
	Conservative
	Liberal Democrat
	Green
	Labour
Total

West Suffolk

West Suffolk District Summary

Party		Seats	+/-	Votes	%	+/-
	Conservative
	Independent
	Labour
	Liberal Democrat
	West Suffolk Independents
	Green
Total

References

1. Irwin, Vikki (5 November 2025). "Local elections 'should go ahead in May'". BBC News.
2. "LGBCE | Suffolk County Council | LGBCE Site". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
3. "Suffolk County Council councillor of 17 years dies after short illness". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
4. "Suffolk councillor Christopher Hudson joins Reform". eadt.co.uk. East Anglian Daily Times. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
5. 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.