9th May - Statement on Local Elections

There's no getting away from it, this was a tough election for the Labour Party across the country.

In Ipswich, we took the fight to Reform and won a number of areas convincingly. Huge congratulations to the excellent Labour councillors who will be representing their residents on Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council.

I had said before the election that, in our town, it was largely a straight fight between Labour and Reform, and that was borne out in the results. We were painfully close in a number of other areas, including in Bridge, my old Suffolk County Council seat, where we lost by just 11 votes.

I am so sorry to have lost some really good people who are hard working, dedicated and passionate about their local communities. We had a really impressive group of new candidates standing for the first time, and that bodes really well, not just for our Party, but for our town as a whole. They will be back next year when we have the elections for the new Greater Ipswich Council.

Suffolk County Council has now moved from Conservative control to Reform. Like before, I will work constructively with the new administration – I want Ipswich and Suffolk to succeed. However, if these people don’t turn up to do their jobs, if they don’t work hard, if they drive a wedge between the people and communities they are meant to represent, and if they cut services that are vitally important to people, I will be holding them to account. They are now responsible for our roads, social care and SEND, delivering major infrastructure like the Northern Bypass, and managing a budget worth £850 million. They are now public servants and they will be held to the highest standards.

For my part, I will continue to work hard as Ipswich’s MP. I am so ambitious for our town and I know the potential we have.

I also know how desperately people need to see change in their communities, public services that work when we need them, and more money in their pockets. Things have been too hard for too long, and I know many people aren’t yet feeling a positive uplift in their lives since the change in Government less than two years ago.

I am doing everything I can to make that happen in Ipswich.

£1.5 million in Pride in Place funding has been allocated to over 30 different community projects across Ipswich, with an extra £40 million for our town now secured. Footfall is up in the town centre and crime is down.

A new multi-million-pound community diagnostic centre will be opening in the town centre, and the new ambulance hub is up and running. There is boost to funding for SEND, the biggest upgrade to Ipswich bus services in 30 years and record funding to fix potholes.

The agreement I negotiated with Sizewell C means 300 people in our town are in secure, well-paid employment, and local firms are also benefiting from contracts with the project.

That is in parallel with the important work Ipswich Borough Council are doing, whether that investing in the Regent, our public spaces, and empty buildings like Grimwades. They continue to maintain and improve our wonderful parks and build and improve housing in our town too.

However, I know there is still much to do locally. I know that people are deeply frustrated by the pace of change nationally and by a number of unforced errors the Government has made. I hear your message loud and clear, and I will be back in the office next week to work for our town and every person in it. I am so proud to represent Ipswich and I will keep fighting for a better future.