Ipswich Borough Council, founded in 1974 after the abolition of the County Borough of Ipswich, governs the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse collection, housing and planning, with

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 ...

providing

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

services such as transport, education and social services.

Politics

Between 1979 and September 2004, Ipswich Borough Council was under

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 ...

control. The town was then governed by a

Conservative 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 i ...

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

coalition until May 2011 when it reverted to

. The borough is covered by two parliamentary constituencies:

, which covers about 75% and is represented by

MP Tom Hunt, and Central Suffolk & North Ipswich, which covers the remaining 25% and is represented by

Dan Poulter Daniel Leonard James Poulter (born 30 October 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Poulter is a psychiatrist and ...

Bid for unitary status

In April 2006 the council initiated public discussions about the idea of turning the borough into a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

(Ipswich had constituted a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

from 1889 to 1974, independent of the surrounding administrative county of East Suffolk, and this status was not restored by the Banham/Cooksey Commission in the 1990s). Ipswich,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

united to campaign for unitary authority status, hoping to use the window of opportunity presented by the October 2006 Local Government White Paper. In March 2007, it was announced that Ipswich was one of sixteen shortlisted councils and on 25 July 2007, the Secretary of state announced that she was minded to implement the unitary proposal for Ipswich, but that there were 'a number of risks relating to the financial case set out in the proposal', on which she invited Ipswich to undertake further work before a final decision is taken. Early in December plans were thrown into doubt as the Government announced that it had 'delayed' the unitary bids for Ipswich and Exeter. In July 2008 the Boundary Committee announced their preferred option was for a unitary authority covering Ipswich and the south-eastern corner of Suffolk (including Felixstowe).Draft proposals for unitary local government in Norfolk and Suffolk
Boundary Committee

Areas

The Council has divided the Borough into 5 areas which each have their own committee and funding. * Central Area: Alexandra Ward, St Margaret’s Ward and Westgate Ward * North East Area: Bixley Ward, Rushmere Ward and St John’s Ward * North West Area: Castle Hill Ward, Whitehouse Ward and Whitton Ward * South East Area: Gainsborough Ward, Holywells Ward and Priory Heath Ward * South West Area: Bridge Ward, Gipping Ward, Sprites Ward and Stoke Park Ward

Wards

The Borough consists of 16 wards, each of which is represented by three Councillors. Since boundaries were revised in 2002 these have been: For full election results see

Ipswich Borough Council elections Since 1979 one third of Ipswich Borough Council is elected each year, followed by one year without election. Political control Leadership The leaders of the council since 2001 have been: Council elections * 1973 Ipswich Borough Council elect ...

Arms

References

{{Authority control Non-metropolitan district councils of England Local authorities in Suffolk Ipswich Politics of Suffolk Billing authorities in England