On Thursday 6 May Ipswich will go to the polls in the biggest set of local elections for nearly 20 years

Ipswich Borough Council

Ipswich Borough Council has been Labour controlled since 2011. It is responsible for services such as rubbish collection, sport and leisure, planning and council housing.

This year 18 out of 48 councils seats are up for election. There were due to be elections to the Borough Council in 2020 but they were delayed 12 months due to Coronavirus. In most parts of Ipswich you will vote for one candidate, but if you live in Holywells or Castle Hill ward where councillors stood down before the end of their term of office you will have two votes.

Labour-run Ipswich Borough Council has worked throughout the Covid crisis to support residents and businesses in our town. If re-elected on 6 May Labour will:

• Protect services from cuts – keep free brown bins and the free young person’s summer iCard
• Bring more jobs to Ipswich – 500 jobs already at Eastern Gateway with another 450 on the way
• Build new council houses for Ipswich families – 40 currently under construc­tion and 250 more planned
• Bring empty town centre buildings back into use – using the £25m Town Deal Fund the Council successfully won from the Government
• Tackle climate change – replace the council’s fleet with Electric Vehicles and build a new carbon neutral depot
• Keep Ipswich’s Council Tax low – the rise in your bill from Conservative Suffolk County Council and the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner is nine times higher than from Labour Ipswich Borough Council

Conservative councillors have opposed our plans to bring new jobs to Ipswich, build new council houses and provide shelter for homeless people. If they were running the Council, they would start charging for brown bins and scrap the young persons’ summer iCard.

Suffolk County Council

Suffolk County Council has been Conservative controlled since 2005. It is responsible for services such as roads and pavements including potholes and street lighting, public transport, education, social care and fire services.

Every four years 75 Councillors are elected to represent the whole of Suffolk, 13 of these covering Ipswich.

In most parts of Ipswich you will vote for one candidate, but the larger divisions of Chantry, St Margarets and Westgate and Whitton and Whitehouse will elect two councillors each, so voters in these areas of Ipswich will have two votes.

For years, the Conservatives at Suffolk County Council have taken Ipswich for granted – every year they raise council tax, but all we have seen in return is cuts to things like children’s centres, and a failure to deliver on their promises, canning the Ipswich Northern Bypass at the earliest opportunity.

Labour will put an end to years of Conservative County Council cuts, incompetence and complacency by:

• Rebuilding our economy – establishing a SME business fund to help our local businesses get back on their feet
• Investing in our future – reopening children’s centres, re-employing health visitors and lifting families out of poverty
• Caring for our loved ones – guaranteeing good pay and conditions for staff; ensuring all settings are well-funded; and ceasing all placements in inadequate settings
• Ending ‘shabby Suffolk’ – cleaning up our highways, fixing our pothole problem and restoring pride in our County’s roads
• Delivering a cleaner, greener Suffolk – planting trees and establishing a green energy fund to drive down the prices of renewables and reduce bills for homeowners and businesses
• Making people feel safer – keeping street lights on for longer and investing in our fire service

Labour believes in Suffolk – we are proud of our heritage and ambitious for our future. We want to protect the things that make our county great, but we also want to unlock our potential, by offering a high-class education to every child; supporting all of our residents, from young families through to our loved ones in care; and creating well-paid employment.

We need a new plan for Suffolk – vote Labour on 6 May and, together, we can deliver a better future for our town and our county.

Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk is the elected representative with responsibility setting the budget for Suffolk Constabulary and ensuring it is running effectively. The role has been filled by a Conservative since it was established in 2012.

The Police and Crime Commissioner is elected every four years. The election was due in 2020 but was delayed 12 months due to Coronavirus.

Ipswich has been badly let down by Suffolk’s Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner. Despite his huge increases in council tax, Suffolk has seen hundreds of police officers cut over the last decade. The results are there for everyone to see: drug dealing and anti-social behaviour have been allowed to get out of con­trol in Ipswich.

As a wealthy farmer from rural Suffolk, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner just doesn’t under­stand the problems of urban areas like Ipswich.

Labour’s Elizabeth Hughes is the daughter of a police sergeant and knows full well what a terrible impact crime and anti-social behaviour has on the lives of good people.

If elected on 6 May, Elizabeth Hughes will increase police numbers and get them out on the streets where they will have greatest impact.

How to vote

Thousands of people across Ipswich have already voted by post. Thousands more are planning to do it on Thursday 6 May. Bring a pen and face mask and make your plan to vote Labour on Thursday 6 May. Find out everything you need to know at iwillvote.org.uk