136 of 136 councils Counting complete
Voting has taken place for all seats at Suffolk County Council and a third of seats at Ipswich Borough Council
Reform UK has taken control of the county council from the Conservatives
The Greens, Conservatives and Labour have all had some ward wins at county level
The Labour leader of Ipswich Borough Council has retained his seat
Labour could not have lost control at the Town Hall regardless of this week's results
Reform gains reflect the picture across the UK
Find out who won in your area here
With the Suffolk County Council results all tallied up, counting is now under way at Ipswich Town Hall for the Ipswich Borough Council seats.
A third of the borough council is elected at a time, so there were 16 seats being voted for on Thursday.
Going into the elections, the seats being contested were previously held by:
Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
Image source, Alice Cunningham/BBCHere are the final seat count results for the Suffolk County Council election:
Vikki Irwin
at the count in Debenham
We have still got three seats to go, but even with those seats I can confirm that Reform UK is now the new controllers of Suffolk County Council.
They've got 39 out of the 70 seats, with three still to go.
That is a massive gain from the six they had when the county council dissolved for the election.
Mainly they took their gains from the Conservatives, some from the Lib Dems and some from Labour.
The Greens held up their vote and increased their seats by four, but they did lose the Peninsula seat.
It has now been confirmed that Reform UK has taken control of Suffolk County Council after two decades of the Conservatives being in control.
Matt Precey
at the count in Bury St Edmunds
Image source, Matt Precey/BBCRichard Rout, the Conservative candidate for Hardwick in the Suffolk County Council elections, has held on to the seat.
He has held the seat since 2017 and has previously served on the council's cabinet.
He says it is an "honour" to be re-elected.
"I've represented what is a very special part of Bury St Edmunds since 2017 and to be returned with a majority of nearly 1,000 is actually quite emotional.
"It was a positive campaign. I think there's a lot of national noise and negativity, but I focused on how special our town is and trying to keep it that way.
"Bury St Edmunds is a really unique part of Suffolk."
Here were the full results for Hardwick:
Over in the Saxmundham and District ward, an Independent candidate has taken the seat in the Suffolk County Council election. It was previously won by the Conservatives back in 2021.
Here were the results:
Image source, Vikki Irwin/BBCThe Liberal Democrats have held a seat in the Suffolk County Council elections in the St Margaret's ward in central Ipswich.
Group leader Inga Lockington has retained the seat fairly comfortably:
Vikki Irwin
at the count in Debenham
Image source, Louise Parker/BBCLiberal Democrat candidate Keith Scarff lost his seat in the Stowmarket East ward to Reform UK.
Reform's Mark Barber took the seat with 1,255 votes and was followed by Scarff with 1,163 votes.
Scarff says he is "naturally disappointed".
"I knew it would be a very close election," he explains.
"I think, rather strangely, people are voting on national issues rather than local issues, and Reform obviously have a very strong national policy position.
"People really think they are voting for [Reform party leader] Nigel Farage, not for their local candidate. I think that has affected quite a few of the seats."
Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
We are about half way through the results being declared for the Suffolk County Council elections.
There have been big gains for Reform UK and we have seen the Greens take some seats.
Latest scores (36 seats needs for a majority):
The Ipswich Borough Council election results will start coming in later this afternoon.
Vikki Irwin
at the Debenham count
Image source, Louise Parker/BBCWe've got about 20 divisions being counted here, so it's one of the largest of the four counts taking place for the county council across Suffolk.
We're expecting to see whether the Green vote holds up here because the majority of the seats across here are Green or Conservative.
In terms of the area's district councils, Mid Suffolk has been run by the Greens since 2023, while Babergh has been run by a Green/Independent coalition.
We have also got the group leaders from three of the parties in the hall, including the Conservative leader of the county council Matthew Hicks.
He will be defending his seat and it will be interesting to see whether he is able to hold it.
Labour have taken their first win in this May's Suffolk County Council elections.
The party's Colin Kreidewolf has been elected for the Westgate seat in Ipswich with 939 votes. It was previously won by the Conservatives in 2021.
These were the results:
Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
Over at the count in Ipswich, our Local Democracy reporter Joao Santos tells us the Reform UK candidates do not want to speak to the media.
They will not let him take photos of them either.
Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
One of the key issues in Ipswich ahead of this election has been the number of empty shops in the town centre.
Over the years Ipswich has lost big names such as Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, H&M and more, with TG Jones (formerly WH Smith) also recently announcing it was closing on Westgate Street.
Safety in the town centre has been another talking point with some parties stating during their campaigns they would work to improve anti-social behaviour and knife crime strategies.
Today we will see a third of the borough council's seats decided on.
Earlier we saw Chris Chambers, the Conservative candidate who was Suffolk County Council's cabinet member for transport strategy, lose his Gipping Valley seat to Reform UK.
Now, over in the Bixley ward, we have seen Conservative candidate Paul West lose his seat, also to Reform.
He had been the cabinet member for operational highways prior to the election.
Here were the results for the ward:
As well as Suffolk County Council's election results, we are expecting results from Ipswich Borough Council where a third of the seats are up for grabs.
According to our Local Democracy reporter, Joao Santos who is at the Town Hall, that count is not expected to start until about 13:00 BST.
Image source, Joao Santos/Local Democracy Reporting ServiceOur Local Democracy Reporting Service reporter, Joao Santos, has now heard from Jack Abbott, the Labour MP for Ipswich since 2024, who has made it down to the Town Hall to observe the tallying up of the votes for both the borough council and county council.
He said Labour councillors and candidates were out in force to speak to residents and muster support.
Reflecting on the national picture, with Reform UK gaining ground, he said his party always knew it would be a "difficult night".
"For us it is making sure we’ve got some really good, hard-working local councillors who are there rain or shine for their local residents," he said.
Abbott promised to work with both councils and anyone "of any political stripe and none", but with a word of warning.
"This isn’t a job for some amateurs who didn’t want to do it before – this is serious stuff.
“If these guys come in and they don’t do their jobs, they don’t work hard, they cut services that are really important to people, especially vulnerable people, I’ll be holding them to account."
Matt Precey
at the count in Bury St Edmunds
Image source, Matt Precey/BBCCounting is taking place at the Abbeycroft Leisure Centre here in Bury St Edmunds - one of four counts across Suffolk.
The results for 15 seats will be announced in Bury, in wards where 79 candidates stood.
Back in 2021, some 15 Conservatives were returned along with one Independent.
Since then there's been a reorganisation of these divisions and Reform UK has gained a couple of seats locally these past five years - one Conservative councillor defected and there was also a by-election.
Three of the candidates here are Conservative cabinet members at the county council.
Matt Precey
at the count in Bury St Edmunds
Image source, Matt Precey/BBCHaverhill South has gone to Reform UK.
I've just spoken to the winning candidate, Paul Littman, and obviously he is very happy.
He says that this is part of a national wave and what is happening in this part of Suffolk is a reflection of the national picture.
His main priorities as far as his ward is concerned is the pot holes, he says it is the number one issue locally and he also promised that he would focus on mental health issues and supporting young people.
Image source, Louise Parker/BBCWe have seen two more wins for the Greens in the Suffolk County Council elections.
The Cosford ward has been held by the Greens with Robert Lindsay getting 1,658 votes.
Over in Hoxne and Eye ward, Sally Mittuch has taken the seat with 1,526 votes.
That seat was previously Conservative in 2021.
You can see in the pictures just what it means for both of them.
Image source, Louise Parker/BBCAlice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
One of the key issues for Suffolk County Council ahead of this election has been the A14 and Orwell Bridge in Ipswich.
The county council is in charge of our highways, but not major roads like the A14, which is the responsibility of National Highways, external.
We have seen numerous examples of traffic incidents on the bridge causing wider traffic chaos in and around Ipswich, which leads to renewed calls for a northern bypass.
Some businesses and voters told us it was an issue that should not be ignored.
As well as this, the county council's special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision has been a significant talking point after years of issues being reported despite improvements being made.
Similarly adult social care provisions is something the parties have said they would work to improve.