Green Party seeks to lead coalition administration on Babergh District Council after overtaking Conservatives in local elections

The political landscape has shifted in Babergh, as the Green Party more than doubled its seats following the 2023 local elections, while the Conservatives saw their share cut in half.

The Greens became the largest party on Babergh District Council after the ballots were counted on Friday, increasing their representation to 10 seats – up from four at the 2019 poll – reflecting the party’s best ever local election performance nationally.

Their gains included three new councillors in Sudbury, with Jessie Carter and Tim Regester elected in the Sudbury North West ward, and Laura Smith victorious in the Sudbury South West ward.

As with the previous election, no party secured the 17 seats needed for an outright majority, with the authority remaining in a position of no overall control.

Talks are now under way of a possible coalition administration led by the Greens, along with independents, who won nine seats, and the Liberal Democrats, which grew its share to five councillors.

Leigh Jamieson, leader of the Babergh Greens, said he was proud that Suffolk was in the vanguard of the party’s strong results across the country, which includes a historic first council majority in the neighbouring district of mid-Suffolk.

“We are ecstatic,” he told the Suffolk News. “We have doubled our numbers, so we are over the moon.

“We didn’t want to be too overconfident, but the response that we got on the door during the campaign was so positive, for all of our candidates, from people saying they wanted something different.

“In terms of politics as they are, people are fed up with the way things have been going for the past few years, both locally and nationally.

“They saw the Green candidates as fresh faces with fresh ideas and a positive way forward.”

Mr Jamieson added that the Green group had already “touched base” with leaders in the independent and Lib Dem groups, with a view to reaching an agreement within the next couple of weeks.

He said: “We are open to forming an administration with other parties that put the interests, concerns and wellbeing of residents and their communities first.”

Councillors will convene at the Babergh annual general meeting at 5.30pm on Tuesday, May 23, to elect a new chairman and council leader, the latter of whom will then appoint the new cabinet.

Meanwhile, mirroring their decline in the polls nationwide, the Conservatives ceded significant ground in their representation in Babergh.

The Tories ended up with just seven councillors, down from 15 four years ago, as seats they held in Sudbury, Great Cornard and Hadleigh flipped to the Greens.

Some councillors who were elected as Conservatives in 2019 retained their seats as independents, including ex-leader John Ward in Brett Vale and former cabinet member Liz Malvisi in Long Melford.

Elsewhere, the Labour Party held on to one seat, as Alison Owen achieved re-election in the Sudbury North East ward.

Turnout for the Babergh elections this year was 25,588 – equal to 35 per cent of the electorate.