Reform takes majority control of Suffolk County Council, instructed to only speak to GB News

Why it matters: Reform did not stand a single candidate at the last Suffolk County Council elections in 2021. Five years on, the party has been handed outright control of an authority responsible for adult social care, children's services, highways, schools, libraries and the fire and rescue service — and which will play a central role in the transition to three new unitary authorities in 2028.

The details: The Conservatives, who held 44 of the council's 70 seats going into the election and have run the authority continuously since 2017, have lost their majority. The party previously held power between 2005 and 2013.

All 70 county council seats were up for election on Thursday, 7 May, the first time in five years that voters had been asked to fill every seat after last year's elections were postponed. The number of seats was reduced from 75 to 70 since the previous election in 2021.

• Reform won 41 seats – 5 more than the 36 they needed for a majority
• Greens won 13
• Conservatives retained just 9 seats – a swing of 35 seats
• Labour won 3 seats
• Two seats went to independents

For context: A pre-election projection by national elections analyst PollCheck had suggested Reform could win as many as 59 of the 70 seats, with the Conservatives projected to lose all 55 of the seats they secured in 2021. The modellers themselves cautioned that 2026 was "uncharted territory" and that county council projections were "where it's most likely to be wrong."

The bigger picture: Reform's ascent in Suffolk has been rapid. The party gained six seats on the county council through defections and by-elections during the previous term, and for the first time fielded candidates in every ward and division across Ipswich at this election.

What they're saying: The party refused to engage with the media at today's elections, having been instructed to only speak with GB News. They also declined interview requests throughout the campaign, with the chairman of Ipswich Reform instructing all of the party's candidates not to take part in our Meet the Candidate interviews. Only Tony Gould, who stood in Whitton, responded.

The councillors elected this week will serve a foreshortened mandate. Suffolk's two-tier system is being replaced with three new unitary authorities, including the new Ipswich and South Suffolk council — known to many as Greater Ipswich. Elections for those bodies are due in May 2027, with the new councils running as shadow bodies for a year before formally taking on power in April 2028.

The bottom line: A party that did not exist locally five years ago now controls Suffolk County Council. How it intends to use that majority remains to be seen.

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