Suffolk County Council: What happens next?

Reform UK has taken control of Suffolk County Council after winning a majority of seats at last week's election, so what happens next?

The party won 41 of the 70 seats up for grabs, the Green Party secured 13, the Tories won nine, Labour won three and the Liberal Democrats and Independent candidates each took two.

The Conservatives had run the council for 20 years.

The council is now in a transitional phase. Regular activities are still being carried out, potholes are still being filled and the libraries are open.

What won't be happening is any big political policy decisions by the outgoing Conservative administration.

The metaphorical keys are due to be handed over at the council's annual meeting on 21 May.

That is when the largest political group, Reform, will select its leader, who then becomes the leader of the council.

The party is currently led by Chris Hudson. He said there would be a meeting this week where "two or three" people would put their names forward to become the leader.

The new leader will select their cabinet, which are the senior councillors who are in control of portfolios such as transport or education.

It may be a feeling of the new kid at school for many of the newly elected councillors, some of whom have not been involved in politics before.

The council says it has a "programme of training and induction sessions" for new councillors and these have started this week.

Councillors will be offered the use of technology, like laptops and phones, which the council says must only be used for councillor work.

The new members will also need to learn how to manage their finances. They can claim expenses, but the council specifies this is not intended to pay councillors for their time. They also have access to a budget of £6,000 a year to spend in their ward.

Usually county councillors are elected on a four-year term. However, due to the local government reorganisation planned for Suffolk, this term will be two years.

Elections are due to be held in 2027 for three new unitary authorities. These will deliver the services of the current county council and the district and borough councils.

The new unitary authorities are due to take charge in 2028, but will spend a year shadowing the current councils in the two-tier set-up.

It is unclear what that means for the Reform authority and whether they will be able to make any big decisions during the year of the shadow authority.

Prior to the election, Reform did not produce a local manifesto but said it would have to look at local authority finances if voted in.

Hudson has since said savings needed to be made and "nothing is off the table" when asked if there could be job cuts at the council.

"There's no money, so we've got to make compensatory savings," he continued.

June Mummery, who won for Reform in the Carlton Colville ward, said: "We need to get in and start looking at the cost of things.

"There'll be a lot to do. We're in debit in the council at the moment.

"The unitary [changes] - that's a big thing to look at as well because Suffolk's been going for 1,000 years. Why are we breaking it all up?" she asked.

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