Elections to

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association. History Establ ...

were held on 4 June 2009 as part of the

2009 United Kingdom local elections The 2009 United Kingdom local elections were elections held to all 27 County Councils, three existing Unitary Authorities and five new Unitary Authorities, all in England, on 4 June 2009. The elections were due to be held on 7 May 2009, but were ...

on the same day as the

elections to the European Parliament Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

. 75 councillors were elected from 63 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2005.

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

were the only parties with candidates standing in all sixty-three electoral divisions. The Liberal Democrats and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

were the only other parties which fielded enough candidates to achieve a majority. All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 4 June 2009 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.

Summary

The Conservatives won the election, being returned to power with 55 seats, a net gain of eleven, while the Liberal Democrats won eleven (a gain of two) and thus replaced Labour as the main opposition party, Labour losing seventeen seats overall and ending with only four. Two Independents were elected, while the Green Party also won two seats and the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

won one. The Conservatives became more representative of the county's urban areas, particularly in Waveney and Ipswich, where they took seats from Labour. This contrasted with their performance in 2005 being mainly down to piling up votes in rural divisions. That said, the party lost seats in Bury St Edmunds and also in Mid Suffolk. Despite mounting strong challenges in the divisions lost to the Liberal Democrats in subsequent by-elections, they failed to regain them. The party was heartened by almost tripling their majority to thirty nine seats in comparison to the one of fifteen in 2005. The Liberal Democrats had fought a strong campaign and held all of their divisions and added a further two Councillors to their tally. The smaller parties benefited from the Expenses Scandal hitting the main parties, which saw the Greens and an Independent gain three divisions from the Conservatives, and the UK Independence party taking a seat from Labour. Labour itself was left with a severely reduced tally, and returned to Endeavour House with just four Councillors, all from Ipswich. Of these, two were from the Co-Operative Party. In 2005 the Conservatives had won 42 seats, Labour 22, the Liberal Democrats 7, and one

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

was elected. Subsequent by-elections after this saw the Conservatives gain a seat from Labour, but lose two to the Liberal Democrats.

Government Formation

Conservative group leader Jeremy Pembroke ( Cosford) remained as council leader until April 2011, when Mark Bee (Beccles) succeeded him. Lib Dem leader Kathy Pollard ( Belstead Brook) became leader of opposition, and

Sandy Martin Sandy Martin is an American actress, playwright, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles in the film ''Napoleon Dynamite'' and the TV series ''Big Love'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', and ''Ray Donovan''. Career Martin ...

( St John's) became Labour group leader.

Results

Results by District

Babergh

District Summary Division Results