Elections for Suffolk County Council will be help on Thursday 4th May. In Felixstowe we have two divisions – Suffolk Coastal (two seats) and Felixstowe North and Trimleys (one seat).
The last election was in 2013 when Suffolk Coastal was won by Conservatives Nick Barber and Graham Newman with 28% and 26% of the vote respectively, and Felixstowe North and Trimleys was won by Conservative John Goodwin with 45% of the vote.
We have three layers of governance in Suffolk – Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council and The Town or Parish Council.
Suffolk County Council are responsible for Adult and Community Services including social care, arts, heritage, sport, libraries, safeguarding, and building strong communities; Children and Young People’s Services including early help, education, youth, community health, early years and specialist services; Public Health and Protection covering Public Health, Fire and Rescue, Community Safety, Trading Standards and Emergency Planning; and Resource Management including registrars for Births, Deaths and Marriages and Coroners.
Suffolk Coastal District Council is responsible for:
- bin or refuse collections and brown bins
- council tax payment, homes and housing rent
- parking fines and permits
- planning applications
- swimming pools, parks and leisure centres
- abandoned animals; stray cats or dogs
Candidates for the Felixstowe divisions are as follows:
Suffolk Coastal:
Seamus Bennett Liberal Democrats
Jan Candy Liberal Democrats
Corrine Franklin Labour
Margaret Morris Labour
Kay Lyndie Green
Aiden Semmens Green
Graham Newman Conservative
Steve Wiles Conservative
Keith Phair UKIP
Felixstowe North & Trimley:
Dave Ablitt Labour
Stuart Bird Conservative
David Coults UKIP
Andrew Marfleet Liberal Democrats
Jonathan Mulberg Green
Suffolk is divided into 63 electoral divisions, 12 of which are represented by 2 councillors. Large towns maybe split into several divisions and in rural areas groups of parishes make-up a single division.
The Council is currently controlled by the Conservative party.
The full political make-up of the council was:
- Conservative 37
- Green 2
- Independent 3
- Labour 15
- Liberal Democrat 8
- UKIP 10
