‘Local elections: a view from the east’

The Reform victories in the east of England have dominated the national headlines. Reform won control of the county councils in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. In Essex, the Conservatives crashed from 52 seats to 13 while Reform won 53. In Suffolk, the Conservatives fell from 55 to 9 while Reform won 41. And in Norfolk, the Conservatives dropped from 58 to 8 while Reform won 40 seats and Rupert Lowe’s ‘Great Yarmouth First’ party won nine. In the unitary authority of Thurrock, Reform now occupies all the seats won by the Conservatives in 2021. In the east, the main story is the passing of the baton from the Conservatives to Reform. This is a story the news headlines have largely neglected.

Where does Labour stand in this story? In Essex we lost four county council seats, all to Reform. In Suffolk we lost three to Reform and in Norfolk we lost 11, to a mixture of Greens in Norwich and Great Yarmouth First. But if we are to learn lessons from these results, we also need to look at the many places where Labour won – in both county and district elections – and understand why.

READ MORE: ‘The morning after’

In Colchester, we were defending five city council seats and we lost two. We still have 12 councillors and expect to be a key part of the new administration. In Southend, Labour lost two seats but won four and remains the largest group on the council. In Welwyn Hatfield, Labour remains the largest party and even took back a seat from the Greens after a sitting councillor defected. In three other wards there, Labour was within 100 votes of winning but lost because of votes leaking to the Greens. In Stevenage, Reform made gains, but Labour remains in control of the council. It’s worth remembering that, across the UK as a whole, Labour is still the largest party in local government.

There is a lot of media coverage about why some voters have switched to Reform or why they decided to vote in a local election for the first time in years. (Turnout in Essex was 43.6%, up from 33.2% the last county elections in 2021.) But there is a lot less coverage of those who did not switch.

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

In the east, tens of thousands of people gave their vote to Labour again. As ever, they will have done so for a variety of reasons: personal support for a respected councillor, a tactical vote to keep out another party or – and let’s hope this is not a revelation to readers of LabourList – because they quietly appreciate a government that has serious policies for serious times.

Rather than just rueing the loss of some of our voters to other parties we need to concentrate on strengthening our connections with those who support us and on nurturing the many and varied networks of local support that won the 2024 general election.

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].