Conservatives take majority in Suffolk County Council election

The Conservatives now have a majority at Suffolk County Council

The Conservatives retained control of Suffolk County Council, increasing its number of seats from 37 to 52.

While it was a good day for the Tories, Labour saw its number of councillors fall from 15 to 11, and UKIP lost all of its 10 seats.

The Green Party lost the seat of its leader, Mark Ereira Guyer, but did win three elsewhere - building on the two it had previously.

There are five Liberal Democrat councillors and four independents.

The gain for the Conservatives means they now have a majority at the council, having previously been one short.

Suffolk County Council said 247,073 people voted in the election, a 44.19% turnout.

Colin Noble, leader of Suffolk County Council going into the election, retained his seat in Row Heath and said he was "absolutely delighted" with the results.

"We're really pleased because at the end of the day we've got a strong manifesto, we're brimming full of ideas and now what we know is we get to implement them over the next four years," he said.

Conservatives cement position, despite a few surprises

By Vikki Irwin, BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter

The story in Suffolk mirrors what's happened nationally. The UKIP vote has been wiped out - they had 10 councillors, now they have none.

The Conservatives will have control at Suffolk County Council - they only needed more than 37 councillors, but managed to get 52.

Labour managed to hold most of its Ipswich seats but lost its deputy leader, Sarah Adams. It also suffered losses in Waveney, where it only kept one of its five divisions. There was some good news for Labour, though, as it won the seat of Sudbury - gaining it from the Conservatives. It brings the total number of Labour councillors to 11, but it did have 15.

The Liberal Democrats were hoping for a resurgence, but failed to hold all their seats - they had eight, they now have five. They lost out to the Conservatives and didn't manage to hold on to Hadleigh, which they gained in a by-election last year.

There were some surprises. The Greens took two seats from the Conservatives, one in Beccles and the other in Cosford near Sudbury. But the party's leader, Mark Ereira Guyer, lost his Bury St Edmunds seat, meaning overall it gained one seat - and now has three councillors.

Another unexpected result was the success of the independents. They all held their seats, and the West Suffolk Independent gained its first county council seat in Brandon.

But despite the smaller opposition parties making gains, it'll make little difference as the Conservative group now has the numbers to ensure its policies will get voted through.