Mid Suffolk

Mid Suffolk District
Non-metropolitan district
Stowmarket, the district's largest town
Mid Suffolk shown within Suffolk and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East of England
Non-metropolitan county	Suffolk
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Ipswich
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Mid Suffolk District Council
• MPs	Dan Poulter Jo Churchill
Area
• Total	336.3 sq mi (871.1 km2)
• Rank	37th (of 296)
Population  (2021)
• Total	103,417
• Rank	229th (of 296)
• Density	310/sq mi (120/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 96.8% White 1.4% Mixed 0.8% Asian 0.5% Black 0.4% other
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 49.3% Christianity 43.5% no religion 7% other 0.2% Islam
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	42UE (ONS) E07000203 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TM0853555286

Mid Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England. The district is primarily a rural area, containing just three towns, being Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Its council was based in Needham Market until 2017 when it moved to shared offices with neighbouring Babergh District Council in Ipswich, outside either district. In 2021 it had a population of 103,417.

The neighbouring districts are East Suffolk, Ipswich, Babergh, West Suffolk, Breckland and South Norfolk.

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering five former districts which were all abolished at the same time:

• Eye Municipal Borough
• Gipping Rural District
• Hartismere Rural District
• Stowmarket Urban District
• Thedwastre Rural District

Thedwastre Rural District had been in the administrative county of West Suffolk prior to the reforms; the other districts had all been in East Suffolk. The new district was named Mid Suffolk, reflecting its position within the wider county.

Mid Suffolk District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Rowland Warboys, Green since 22 May 2023
Leader	Andy Mellen, Green since 22 May 2023
Chief Executive	Arthur Charvonia since 2017
Structure
Seats	34 councillors
Political groups	Administration (23)   Green (23) Other parties (11)   Conservative (6)   Liberal Democrats (4)   Vacant (1)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich, IP1 2BX
Website
www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

Mid Suffolk District Council provides district-level services. 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.

In 2011, Mid Suffolk and Babergh District Councils began working together, with one, fully integrated staff structure.

Political control

The council has been under Green Party majority control since the 2023 election, being the first time that the party had taken majority control of any council.

The first elections were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2003 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:

Since March 2024 there has been a casual vacancy following a resignation of a Chilton councillor. A by-election has been announced for 2 May 2024, the same day as other local elections across England.

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 34 councillors representing 26 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

Since 2017 Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils have their combined headquarters at Endeavour House in Ipswich, sharing the building with Suffolk County Council.

 

When first created the council inherited offices in Elmswell, Eye, Stowmarket and Needham Market from its predecessors. It initially used the former Hartismere Rural District Council offices on Castleton Way in Eye as its headquarters, retaining the former Gipping Rural District Council offices in Needham Market and Stowmarket Urban District Council offices at Red Gables on Ipswich Road as secondary offices.

The council initially decided to consolidate its offices in Stowmarket, being the district's largest town and a central location, but no suitable site could be found there. Instead it decided to extend the former Gipping Rural District Council's headquarters in Needham Market. The original building there was a large eighteenth century house called "Hurstlea" at 131 High Street. A large modern extension was built behind the original building, which was formally opened in January 1982.

 

 

The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Eye, Needham Market and Stowmarket have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.