The Greens have won majority control of a council for the first time in the UK amid a triumphant set of local election results, with the party gaining close to 240 seats by Friday night, well above even internal expectations.
As well as taking 24 seats on the 34-member Mid Suffolk council, doubling their previous tally, the Greens highlighted their threat to the Conservatives in rural and suburban areas by becoming the biggest party on East Hertfordshire council.
The party will, however, be particularly cheered by the overwhelming result in Mid Suffolk, where local Greens had been quietly confident of securing the five gains needed to take control, but ended up taking an extra dozen seats.
While the Greens have previously run Brighton and Hove as a minority administration, this will be their first ever majority council in the UK – and, according to party co-leader Carla Denyer, in the entire northern hemisphere.
Andrew Stringer, who was the first Green elected in Mid Suffolk in 2003, said this landmark meant “all eyes will be on us to deliver”, adding: “We’ve now got four years to prove to the world that Green can be the way forward and deliver for our communities.”
He said: “We always thought we could rewrite the rules of politics here in sleepy old Suffolk but we didn’t think it would be such a momentous, historic thing. We tried to rewrite the rules of local politics where the expectation of the electorate is that we do what we say on the leaflet.”
The first gain for the Greens in the count saw them depose the former local Conservative leader, Suzie Morley, who said the her party’s Westminster government “hasn’t done us any favours”.
The Greens also became the largest party on East Hertfordshire council, the first time the Conservatives have lost control of it since 1995 and only the second time in its 49-year history.
After 18 hours of counting and four recounts, the Greens ended up on 19 seats with the Conservatives on 16, the Liberal Democrats on 10 and Labour on five. In 2015 the Tories had won all 50 council seats, and they took 39 in 2019.
The capture of Mid Suffolk, a predominantly rural and traditionally Conservative area based around the town of Stowmarket, and the huge gains in East Hertfordshire highlight how the Greens have moved their scope beyond the capture of Labour areas in cities.
The Greens fought an ultra-local campaign in Mid Suffolk, based on a network of energetic councillors and campaigners who argued the Conservatives had taken the area for granted.
The party looks set to end up as the largest in Forest of Dean, and took the highest vote share in Worcester, falling short of Labour’s seat total but preventing it taking control of the council.
Other gains came in places including Sevenoaks, Worthing and South Kesteven, where the Tory council leader was also removed.
The Greens’ co-leader Carla Denyer said her party had capitalised on “a deep dislike of the Tories and Starmer’s uninspiring Labour”, adding: “But it is also clear that voters have responded positively to our practical solutions to meet concerns on issues such as the cost of living crisis, housing, underfunded and rundown public services and the state of our rivers.”
Her co-leader Adrian Ramsay said it was a “fantastic night” that had surpassed expectations and had given the party momentum ahead of the next general election. He said the party was well placed in areas such as Bristol, Waveney Valley in Suffolk and Herefordshire “because people can see we’re the main challengers on the ground”.
He hailed the “incredible” result in East Hertfordshire, noting the party had won its first seats there only four years ago.
