| Election Name: | 2017 Suffolk County Council election |
| Country: | England |
| Flag Image: | County Flag of Suffolk.svg |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2013 Suffolk County Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2013 |
| Next Election: | 2021 Suffolk County Council election |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
| Seats For Election: | All 75 seats to Suffolk County Council |
| Majority Seats: | 38 |
| Election Date: | 4 May 2017 |
| Leader1: | Colin Noble |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leader Since1: | 7 April 2015 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Row Heath |
| Last Election1: | 39 seats, 35.5% |
| Seats Before1: | 36 |
| Seats1: | 52 |
| Seat Change1: | 13 |
| Popular Vote1: | 92,238 |
| Percentage1: | 46.3% |
| Swing1: | 10.8% |
| Leader2: | Sandy Martin |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Leader Since2: | May 2009 |
| Leaders Seat2: | St John's |
| Last Election2: | 15 seats, 21.6% |
| Seats Before2: | 15 |
| Seats2: | 11 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Popular Vote2: | 41,242 |
| Percentage2: | 20.7% |
| Swing2: | 0.9% |
| Leader3: | David Wood |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Leader Since3: | May 2013 |
| Leaders Seat3: | Peninsula |
| Last Election3: | 7 seats, 20.0% |
| Seats Before3: | 8 |
| Seats3: | 5 |
| Seat Change3: | 2 |
| Popular Vote3: | 27,237 |
| Percentage3: | 13.0% |
| Swing3: | 3.1% |
| Leader4: | Mark Ereira-Guyer |
| Party4: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Leader Since4: | May 2013 |
| Leaders Seat4: | Tower (Defeated) |
| Last Election4: | 2 seats, 8.8% |
| Seats Before4: | 2 |
| Seats4: | 3 |
| Seat Change4: | 1 |
| Popular Vote4: | 16,367 |
| Percentage4: | 6.0% |
| Swing4: | 0.6% |
| Leader5: | n/a |
| Party5: | Independent (politician) |
| Leader Since5: | n/a |
| Leaders Seat5: | n/a |
| Last Election5: | 3 seats, 3.6% |
| Seats Before5: | 5 |
| Seats5: | 3 |
| Popular Vote5: | 8,511 |
| Percentage5: | 4.3% |
| Swing5: | 0.7% |
| Leader6: | n/a |
| Party6: | West Suffolk Independents |
| Colour6: | 6EFFC5 |
| Leader Since6: | n/a |
| Leaders Seat6: | n/a |
| Last Election6: | Did Not Stand |
| Seats Before6: | 0 |
| Seats6: | 1 |
| Seat Change6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 1,771 |
| Percentage6: | 0.9% |
| Swing6: | 0.9% |
| Leader7: | James Crossley |
| Party7: | United Kingdom Independence Party |
| Leader Since7: | April 2017 |
| Leaders Seat7: | Whitehouse and Whitton (Retiring) |
| Last Election7: | 9 seats, 20.0% |
| Seats Before7: | 9 |
| Seats7: | 0 |
| Seat Change7: | 9 |
| Popular Vote7: | 11,974 |
| Percentage7: | 6.0% |
| Swing7: | 14.0% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Election: | Colin Noble Conservative |
| Before Party: | No overall control |
| After Election: | Colin Noble Conservative |
The 2017 Suffolk County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom.[1] All 75 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each, by first-past-the-post voting, for a four-year term of office.
Voters who live in divisions which elected two councillors (12 divisions) were entitled to cast a maximum of two votes, while those living in divisions only electing one councillor (51 divisions) were only entitled to cast one vote.
Labour and the Conservatives were the only parties fielding candidates in all 63 electoral divisions. The Liberal Democrats had candidates standing in 58 divisions, while the Green Party stood candidates in 46 divisions and UKIP stood candidates in 43 divisions.
| Party | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | |||
| 15 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 2 | |||
| Total | 75 | ||
| Party | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | |||
| 15 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 2 | |||
| Total | 75 | ||
In between the 2013 election and the 2017 election, the following council seats changed hands:
| Division | Date | Previous Party | New Party | Cause | Resulting Council Composition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Con | Lab | UKIP | LDem | Grn | Ind | ||||||
| Haverhill Cangle[2] | 5 May 2016 | Sitting councillor died. UKIP won by-election. | 38 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Hadleigh[3] | 22 September 2016 | Sitting councillor disqualified. Liberal Democrats won by-election. | 37 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Lowestoft South | March 2017 | Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member. | 37 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Sudbury | March 2017 | Councillor quit party to sit as an independent member. | 36 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 5 | |||
The Conservatives regained much of the ground they lost at the previous election taking a net gain of 15 seats despite only picking up two extra seats in Ipswich.
Labour lost 4 of its 5 seats in Lowestoft but managed to pick up a Sudbury seat that they haven't held since 2009 and remained the main opposition party.
The Lib Dem lost 2 seats and failed to maintain a by election gain in Hadleigh.
The Greens made a net gain of 1, and UKIP lost all their seats.
With 52 seats and a fourth successive victory, the Conservatives were able to form a working majority of 29 in the new Council, with Colin Noble (Row Heath) elected as Council Leader. In May 2018 he was ousted in a party room ballot by cabinet member for waste, fire and the environment Matthew Hicks (Thredling).[4] [5]
Opposition leader Sandy Martin (St John's) stood down after being elected to Parliament in the 2017 general election in June, with Sandra Gage (Rushmere) succeeding him. However, in December 2017 she stood down to be replaced by former deputy group leader Sarah Adams (St John's), who had returned to the council after winning the by-election triggered by Martin's departure.[6]
The Lib Dems and the Greens agreed to form a joint group, with the leadership switching each year, David Wood (Peninsula) the incumbent Lib Dem group leader became the first leader of this new group.[7]
|}
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 10,463 | 39.5 | +3.7 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 5,880 | 22.2 | +4.3 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 3,439 | 13.0 | –1.6 | |||
| 1 | 3,007 | 11.3 | +5.2 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 2,424 | 9.1 | –2.0 | |||
| 0 | 1,293 | 4.9 | –9.6 | ||||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 5,441 | 47.0 | +11.0 | |||
| West Suffolk Independents | 1 | 1 | 1,771 | 15.3 | N/A | ||
| 0 | 1,830 | 15.8 | +1.3 | ||||
| 0 | 1,185 | 10.2 | +3.9 | ||||
| 0 | 2 | 830 | 7.2 | –28.4 | |||
| 0 | 513 | 4.4 | –3.1 | ||||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | 13,711 | 41.2 | +1.4 | |||
| 2 | 1 | 12,012 | 36.1 | +11.4 | |||
| 1 | 3,781 | 11.4 | +2.7 | ||||
| 0 | 2,160 | 6.5 | –12.5 | ||||
| 0 | 1,320 | 3.5 | –3.7 | ||||
| 0 | 259 | 0.7 | +0.7 | ||||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 2 | 13,918 | 49.3 | +14.3 | |||
| 2 | 1 | 5,750 | 20.4 | +6.6 | |||
| 1 | 4,171 | 14.8 | –0.8 | ||||
| 0 | 3,179 | 11.3 | –0.6 | ||||
| 0 | 1 | 1,191 | 4.2 | –19.4 | |||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 25,773 | 53.3 | +3.4 | ||||
| 1 | 7,338 | 15.2 | –2.2 | ||||
| 0 | 3,265 | 6.7 | +4.1 | ||||
| 0 | 8,072 | 16.7 | –3.4 | ||||
| 0 | 2,550 | 5.3 | –3.1 | ||||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 2 | 17,205 | 49.0 | +11.6 | |||
| 2 | 4,084 | 11.6 | +0.6 | ||||
| 0 | 6,890 | 19.6 | +1.7 | ||||
| 0 | 3,691 | 10.5 | +6.4 | ||||
| 0 | 1 | 1,630 | 4.6 | –1.5 | |||
| 0 | 1 | 1,599 | 4.6 | –18.8 | |||
Division Results
District Summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 6 | 22,315 | 44.5 | +12.3 | |||
| 1 | 4 | 13,585 | 27.1 | –4.2 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 6,048 | 12.0 | +0.6 | |||
| 0 | 3 | 4,945 | 9.9 | –12.1 | |||
| 0 | 2,469 | 4.9 | +1.7 | ||||
| 0 | 837 | 1.7 | N/A | ||||
Division Results