West Suffolk District

For the former administrative county abolished in 1974, see West Suffolk (county).

West Suffolk District is a local government district in Suffolk, England. It was established in 2019 as a merger of the previous Forest Heath District with the Borough of St Edmundsbury. The council is based in Bury St Edmunds, the district's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Brandon, Clare, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Newmarket, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. In 2021 it had a population of 180,820.

West Suffolk
Non-metropolitan district
Countryside at Elveden
Coat of arms
West Suffolk district within Suffolk
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East of England
Non-metropolitan county	Suffolk
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Bury St Edmunds
Incorporated	1 April 2019
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	West Suffolk Council
Area
• Total	400 sq mi (1,035 km2)
• Rank	24th of 296
Population  (2022)
• Total	182,228
• Rank	114th of 296
• Density	460/sq mi (180/km2)
• Rank	253rd of 296
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 91.8% White 2.7% Mixed 2.6% Asian 1.6% Black 1.3% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 48.4% Christianity 42.6% no religion 8% other 1% Islam
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)

The neighbouring districts are Mid Suffolk, Babergh, Braintree, South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire, King's Lynn and West Norfolk and Breckland.

History

Prior to West Suffolk's creation, its predecessors Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council had been working together for a number of years, having shared a joint chief executive since 2011. The two districts were formally merged into a new district of West Suffolk with effect from 1 April 2019.^[2][3]

The new district has the same name as the former administrative county of West Suffolk, which was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, but the new district covers a slightly smaller area than the pre-1974 county, which had also included areas now in the Babergh and Mid Suffolk districts.^[4]

Governance

West Suffolk Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
History
Founded	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Preceded by	St Edmundsbury Forest Heath
Leadership
Chair	Pat Hanlon, Labour since 14 May 2024[5]
Leader	Cliff Waterman, Labour since 23 May 2023
Chief Executive	Ian Gallin since 1 April 2019
Structure
Seats	64 councillors
Political groups	Administration (38)   Labour (16)   Independent (11)   West Suffolk Ind. (9)   Green (1)   Liberal Democrats (1) Opposition (26)   Conservative (26)
Elections
Voting system	Plurality block voting
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU
Website
www.westsuffolk.gov.uk

West Suffolk Council provides district-level services.^[6] County-level services are provided by Suffolk County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[7]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election. A coalition of Labour, the West Suffolk Independents, Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent councillors formed after the election, led by Labour councillor Cliff Waterman.^[8]

A shadow authority comprising the councillors of both outgoing councils was established to oversee the transition to the new authority. The first elections to the new council were held on 2 May 2019, a few weeks after the new district had been created. Political control of the council since 2019 has been as follows:

Party in control		Years
	Conservative	2019–2023
	No overall control	2023–present

Leadership

During the shadow period leading up to the council's creation in 2019, the shadow authority was led by James Waters, leader of the outgoing Forest Heath District Council. He was unsuccessful in securing a seat on the new council at its first elections in May 2019. The first leader of the council appointed after the 2019 election was John Griffiths, who was the last leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council. The leaders since 2019 have been:^[9]

Councillor	Party		From	To
John Griffiths		Conservative	22 May 2019	23 May 2023
Cliff Waterman		Labour	23 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:^[10]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	26
	Labour	16
	Independent	11
	West Suffolk Independents	9
	Green	1
	Liberal Democrats	1
Total		64

The Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green Party and one of the independent councillors sit together as the "Progressive Alliance" group, and the West Suffolk Independents and the other ten independent councillors sit together as the "Independents Group". These two groups together form the council's administration.^[11] The next election is due in 2027.^[12]

Premises

The council is based at West Suffolk House on Western Road in Bury St Edmunds. The building had been completed in 2009 for the former St Edmundsbury Borough Council, also incorporating offices for Suffolk County Council.^[13]

Elections

See also: West Suffolk District Council elections

The council comprises 64 councillors representing 43 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[14][15]

Towns and parishes

Further information: List of civil parishes in Suffolk

St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds, the district's largest town.

Market Square in Haverhill, the district's second largest town.

Newmarket is the district's third largest town and is known as a major centre of horse racing.

The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils of Brandon, Bury St Edmunds, Clare, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Newmarket all take the style "town council".

1. Ampton
2. Bardwell
3. Barnardiston
4. Barnham
5. Barningham
6. Barrow
7. Barton Mills
8. Beck Row, Holywell Row and Kenny Hill
9. Brandon (town)
10. Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield
11. Bradfield St Clare
12. Bradfield St George
13. Brockley
14. Bury St Edmunds (town)
15. Cavendish
16. Cavenham
17. Chedburgh
18. Chevington
19. Clare (town)
20. Coney Weston
21. Cowlinge
22. Culford
23. Dalham
24. Denham
25. Denston
26. Depden
27. Elveden
28. Eriswell
29. Euston
30. Exning
31. Fakenham Magna
32. Flempton
33. Fornham All Saints
34. Fornham St Genevieve
35. Fornham St Martin
36. Freckenham
37. Gazeley
38. Great Barton
39. Great Bradley
40. Great Livermere
41. Great Thurlow
42. Great Whelnetham
43. Great Wratting
44. Hargrave
45. Haverhill (town)
46. Hawkedon
47. Hawstead
48. Hengrave
49. Hepworth
50. Herringswell
51. Higham
52. Honington
53. Hopton
54. Horringer
55. Hundon
56. Icklingham
57. Ickworth
58. Ingham
59. Ixworth
60. Ixworth Thorpe
61. Kedington
62. Kentford
63. Knettishall
64. Lackford
65. Lakenheath
66. Lidgate
67. Little Bradley
68. Little Livermere
69. Little Thurlow
70. Little Whelnetham
71. Little Wratting
72. Market Weston
73. Mildenhall (town)
74. Moulton
75. Newmarket (town)
76. Nowton
77. Ousden
78. Pakenham
79. Poslingford
80. Rede
81. Red Lodge
82. Risby
83. Rushbrooke with Rougham
84. Santon Downham
85. Sapiston
86. Stansfield
87. Stanton
88. Stoke-by-Clare
89. Stradishall
90. Thelnetham
91. The Saxhams
92. Timworth
93. Troston
94. Tuddenham
95. West Row
96. Westley
97. West Stow
98. Whepstead
99. Wickhambrook
100. Withersfield
101. Wixoe
102. Wordwell
103. Worlington

See also

• 2019 structural changes to local government in England
• East Suffolk District, another district that was created in Suffolk on 1 April 2019.

References

1. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – West Suffolk Local Authority (E07000245)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (24 May 2018). "The West Suffolk (Local Government Changes) Order 2018". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
3. "West Suffolk: Councils to merge workforces in move to save cash". East Anglian Daily Times. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
4. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 4 July 2023
5. "Council meeting, 14 May 2024". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
6. "How your council works". www.westsuffolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
7. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
8. Green, Tamika (25 May 2023). "Bury St Edmunds councillor Cliff Waterman on 'exciting' new era for West Suffolk Council after being elected coalition leader". Suffolk News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
9. "Council minutes". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
10. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
11. "Your councillors". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
12. "West Suffolk". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
13. Bunn, Roderic. "West Suffolk House" (PDF). Usable Buildings. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
14. "The West Suffolk (Electoral Changes) Order 2018", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2018/1375, retrieved 4 July 2023
15. "Your Councillors". democracy.westsuffolk.gov.uk. West Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

External links

• Official website