Labour held all twelve seats it was defending and gained Holywells and Stoke Park from the Tories at Thursday’s local election.

A third of the council’s 48 seats were up for grabs, plus an extra by-election seat in St John’s ward.

George Lankester won Holywells ward from the Conservatives with a majority of 253 votes – the best ever result for Labour in the ward.

And in Stoke Park ward, Labour’s Tony Blacker beat former Conservative Group Leader, Nadia Cenci by 38 votes.

The Liberal Democrats held St Margaret’s and the Tories retained their two seats in Bixley and Castle Hill.

The narrowest gain was in Stoke Park where former Conservative group leader Nadia Cenci – who was elected to Suffolk County Council a year ago – lost her seat to Labour’s Tony Blacker by 38 votes.

Following on from difficult elections last year when Labour only won 8 of the 16 wards, this year’s elections represented a big step forward and presents the opportunity for more gains next year.

Interviewed at the Count, Ipswich Labour Leader, Cllr David Ellesmere said: “The dream result last year for the Conservatives has turned into a nightmare, and it’s a nightmare made in Downing Street.

“We heard time and time again, lifelong Conservative voters, and people who voted Conservative in 2019 saying there is no way they are going to vote Conservative while Boris Johnson is still Prime Minister.

“We heard people fed up with the parties – they are still angry about that, and really concerned about the cost of living crisis.

“They are just not getting the help from the government they need.”

See the full results here: https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/sites/www.ipswich.gov.uk/files/full_results_ibc_local_may_2022.pdf