• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
East Anglia Bylines
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Luton town hall

    Luton Deputy Mayor regrets Covid breach

    Liz Truss

    EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

    Rook

    Northern Ireland Protocol Bill results in Cambridge lab losing its EU funding

    17 May BPI occupation

    BP hypocrisy on climate challenged by Cambridge sit-in

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Norfolk for Europe March

    Goodbye, Leave and Remain?

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Norwich Floods in 1912: handing a loaf to a flooded-out cottager

    Spectre of 1953 looms as East Anglia faces flood warnings

    University of East Anglia. Photo by Michael John Button via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

    A civic university for the East

    Southend Section 60 map

    Police issue Dispersal Order in Southend

    Ukraine wins Eurovision 2022

    Sam Ryder helps Eurovision’s possible return to the UK

    Robert Walpole

    Walpole: When did the end game begin?

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    RMT Ipswich Branch

    Mick Lynch and a new wave of trade unionists

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sunak & Johnson

    The economics of the government’s pay disputes don’t stack

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Rishi Sunak

    There is a solution to public sector pay disputes if the government wants to find one

    'For sale' boards.

    Housing Association “Right to Buy” proposal is ‘just wrong’ say experts

    East Anglia One windfarm

    One in three Suffolk manufacturing jobs lost since Tories came to power

    Foodbank parcels

    Hunger crisis: is it a national emergency?

    Mortgage debt.

    Sub-prime from Hollywood farce comes to UK housing

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Saffron Walden turf maze

    Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

    Latton Island campaigners

    Rich and poor dispute new Essex river crossing

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    Fertiliser spreading

    Fertiliser – Where there’s muck…

    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sailing barges, Colne estuary.

    The River Colne – where nature, history and modern life collide

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Luton town hall

    Luton Deputy Mayor regrets Covid breach

    Liz Truss

    EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

    Rook

    Northern Ireland Protocol Bill results in Cambridge lab losing its EU funding

    17 May BPI occupation

    BP hypocrisy on climate challenged by Cambridge sit-in

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Norfolk for Europe March

    Goodbye, Leave and Remain?

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    People in masks

    Eight changes the world needs to make to live with COVID

    Norwich Floods in 1912: handing a loaf to a flooded-out cottager

    Spectre of 1953 looms as East Anglia faces flood warnings

    University of East Anglia. Photo by Michael John Button via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

    A civic university for the East

    Southend Section 60 map

    Police issue Dispersal Order in Southend

    Ukraine wins Eurovision 2022

    Sam Ryder helps Eurovision’s possible return to the UK

    Robert Walpole

    Walpole: When did the end game begin?

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    RMT Ipswich Branch

    Mick Lynch and a new wave of trade unionists

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sunak & Johnson

    The economics of the government’s pay disputes don’t stack

    Queen Elizabeth II Crossing

    Anxiety grows over viability of planned Lower Thames Crossing

    Rishi Sunak

    There is a solution to public sector pay disputes if the government wants to find one

    'For sale' boards.

    Housing Association “Right to Buy” proposal is ‘just wrong’ say experts

    East Anglia One windfarm

    One in three Suffolk manufacturing jobs lost since Tories came to power

    Foodbank parcels

    Hunger crisis: is it a national emergency?

    Mortgage debt.

    Sub-prime from Hollywood farce comes to UK housing

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Saffron Walden turf maze

    Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

    Latton Island campaigners

    Rich and poor dispute new Essex river crossing

    Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

    Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

    Fertiliser spreading

    Fertiliser – Where there’s muck…

    Stapleford Granary concert hall

    July classical events at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge

    A&E

    Crisis looming for Southend Hospital and the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust

    Suffolk SketchFest is back

    Traditional beers by the Brentwood Brewing Company.

    Brentwood’s own craft beer company

    Sailing barges, Colne estuary.

    The River Colne – where nature, history and modern life collide

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series
No Result
View All Result
East Anglia Bylines
No Result
View All Result

Ipswich: little movement likely, just a pointer towards the general election

Ipswich is a battleground between Tories and Labour, and the rivalry is unlikely to be settled this year. But we may still learn something.

Peter ThurlowbyPeter Thurlow
April 20, 2022
in Democracy, Local government, Politics, Suffolk
Ipswich Borough Council offices

Ipswich Borough Council offices. Photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ipswich has the only elections in Suffolk this year. They are unlikely to throw up any shocks, and are of most interest in what they might tell us about a future general election.

The mutual dislike between Labour and the Tories in Ipswich is unhealthy, and the election of Tom Hunt as Conservative MP in 2019 has plunged local politics into new depths of bitterness. He is a divisive figure, which has given him recent status as a TV political motormouth. That has not helped the rifts between the parties. On social media, Labour and Tories snipe at each other with little regard for dignity, or for the reputation of the town they represent. Voters would be forgiven for believing proper governance is not the top priority of some of those elected as councillors.

Abrasive Hunt and voter aggression towards Labour

Glorious weather to be out today canvassing for @GeorgeLankester in #Holywells #Ipswich – had the opportunity to practice my #Bulgarian with a resident from #Varna.

He is #VoteLabourMay5th for the first time #labourdoorstep pic.twitter.com/ySu5jFz8NQ

— Julian Gibbs (@julian_gibbs) April 15, 2022

Labour holds control of the borough council, and gives a general impression of competence if little imagination. Meanwhile the Tories, following Hunt’s abrasive approach to politics, are too often mired in squalid spats over accusations of racism. Whether the accusations are true or not, the party shows little willingness to raise the bar and put those issues behind it.

From 2004 to 2011 there was no overall control of the council, then Labour won a majority over Tories and Liberal democrats of eight seats. By 2014 Labour held 35 of the 48 seats, giving a majority of 22. But it was last year that their majority began to be eaten away, down to 12 seats. It was a difficult year for Labour, and one prominent party figure has described the response from voters on the doorstep then as ‘aggressive’.

In this contest there are elections in 17 wards – the scheduled 16 plus a byelection. The initial impression was that both main parties seemed defensive, for their different reasons. Labour had a bruising election last time out, and memories of that bad experience on the doorstep seemed to have dented their confidence going into this election. At that point they would have been pleased to hold on to what they have.

Further gains for the Tories or a Labour fight-back? “Ipswich do different”

Been canvassing in Sprites with Cllr @SteveFlood3 and @tomhunt1988
Headline and picture taken outside one of Toms favourite takeaways ! pic.twitter.com/qrGBOoE1PQ

— Nadia (@confidencenac) February 26, 2022

One commentator has suggested that at this election Labour might lose as many as four seats to the Tories. But during the present canvass, the reception on the doorstep seems to have restored the party’s spirits, and Labour canvassers are becoming more hopeful. They claim their voters are more receptive a year on, and according to them Tory voters are demoralised. In one ward, once Tory but in the Labour fold for the past few years, Labour canvassers claim the responses are “the best ever”.

The Tories see it differently. The worry for them might have been that same lack of motivation, a reflection of the mood in national politics among Tory voters. A recent opinion poll showed a swing against the Tories generally in rural East Anglia of nine percent. That may not translate into urban Ipswich, of course, though the national picture is looking difficult for them.

Party organisers in Ipswich are more tight-lipped than Labour, but insist they are bullish and that the Tory vote remains “very strong”. They claim that Partygate, the cost of living and other potential national embarrassments aren’t mentioned. This would be at odds with cross-party experience as reported elsewhere across the region, though it is possible. There is after all a treasured local political saying of “Ipswich do different”.

All eyes on the general election

The last election coincided with the Covid vaccine roll-out, when the country was beginning to feel a glimmer of optimism. In spite of the Tories’ upbeat assessment, this year there is little in the news or the polls to provide optimism for them. They will hope to hold on to their seats, however. The battles for Sprites and Holywells are mentioned by both main parties, and their results may provide an excuse for joy for one or other of the two parties.

In addition to the two main parties, who have dominated the council in recent years, the Greens have candidates in 15 of the 16 wards, and the Liberal Democrats are standing in 14. The Greens have found Ipswich a hard nut to crack, being demographically quite different to Norwich up the road. The Liberal Democrats have long had a presence in the town, but rarely threaten to break out of their leafy fastness of St Margaret’s Ward (which was contested by your correspondent as a candidate for People’s Involvement in Government: PIG, in the early ’70s.)

In Stoke Park there is a single candidate for the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, a new party registered in August 2020. Its leader was formerly a Conservative who later stood in the general election in 2017 for UKIP.

The most likely outcome though is of little movement. Labour may hold their own seats and would be delighted to win any more. Their experience in canvassing seems to give them heart that they may.

The Tories express confidence going into the election, but are chary about discussing their canvassing returns. In the end, both parties might be pleased to settle with what they have. A surprise is possible, but unlikely. With the general election in mind, swing is everything.

Ipswich election map, 2021.
Ipswich Borough council election apportion diagram.
Ipswich election map going into 2022 election. Graphic by Nilfanion via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Ipswich Borough council election apportion diagram following 2021 election. Graphic by Leutha via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

More on local elections: 2022

Peterborough Town Hall
Local government

Peterborough: an election to watch

byStephen McNair
April 16, 2022
Tags: Local elections 2022
Previous Post

Bishop of Chelmsford makes her case against Rwanda asylum scheme

Next Post

The Ore and the Alde: smugglers, a merman and the home of seaside chic

Peter Thurlow

Peter Thurlow

Peter Thurlow has spent 50 years in politics, as councillor, strategist and elections organizer – mostly with the Labour Party but later the Greens. He is now grateful to have no party ties, but instead turns his attention to other forms of political activity. He has also spent a career in public relations and public affairs, mostly working in health, law, politics, the EU and diplomacy. Peter is a member of the EAB editorial team.

Related Posts

House of Commons
Politics

GrubbyGates

byMadge McClary
July 3, 2022
Anglia

Suffolk SketchFest is back

byAnna Damski
June 29, 2022
Luton town hall
Bedfordshire

Luton Deputy Mayor regrets Covid breach

byJ.J. Jackson
June 27, 2022
Keir Starmer
Politics

Security matters for Labour

byStephen McNair
June 27, 2022
Liz Truss
Brexit

EU taking legal action against UK over Northern Ireland protocol: how did we get here?

byProf Nikos Skoutaris
June 26, 2022
Next Post
Snape

The Ore and the Alde: smugglers, a merman and the home of seaside chic

Want to support us?

Can you help East Anglia Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

DONATE

Sign up to our newsletter

If you would like to receive the East Anglia Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

NEWSLETTER

LATEST

House of Commons

GrubbyGates

July 3, 2022
Saffron Walden turf maze

Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

July 3, 2022
Latton Island campaigners

Rich and poor dispute new Essex river crossing

July 2, 2022
Mr Pecksniff (Social Media)

Pecksniff’s Diary

July 1, 2022

MOST READ

Owners of the wooden Dutch built yacht ordered to leave the UK.

Soviet-style border force order Dutch couple to abandon sailing holiday and go home

July 1, 2022
Saffron Walden turf maze

Essex town fighting health threat of poor air quality

July 3, 2022
Boris Johnson and his cabinet.

Our government is killing democracy by a thousand cuts

May 3, 2022
House of Commons

GrubbyGates

July 3, 2022

Tags

Activism Art Brexit Business Cambridgeshire Climate Community COP26 Culture Democracy Development Economics Economy Education Employment Energy Environment Farming Health Humour Hymns International Women's Day Justice Letters Local elections 2022 Local government National Grid NHS Norfolk Pandemic Partygate Party politics Pecksniff Poetry Politics Poverty Rivers of East Anglia Sewage Sizewell Social care Suffolk Ukraine VAWG Welfare Wildlife
East Anglia Bylines

East Anglia Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in East Anglia and beyond.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About us
    • Contact us
    • Bylines Network
    • Complaints
    • Newsletter
    • Privacy Policy
    • Donate
  • UK
  • Anglia
  • About us
  • UK
  • Anglia

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
  • Series

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In