This month's elections have been momentous in Suffolk with the Greens sweeping to power in half the councils - and the Tories losing their majorities everywhere.

But while we are in midst of a political revolution on the ground, I suspect the results will do absolutely nothing to persuade the government to change the structure of local councils.

And so far as Suffolk is concerned, that's probably just as well.

The councils that changed hands this month were the rural district councils - East Suffolk, West Suffolk, Mid Suffolk and Babergh.

Along with Ipswich they do have some important responsibilities - probably most crucial is their planning function - but their actual role is pretty limited and they do play second fiddle to the county council.

In the past there have been suggestions that the two tiers of Suffolk local government should merge to make it easier for residents to understand - or a new single-tier map should be created.

One of the options proposed has been the "Wiltshire solution." There the government shook up local councils in 1997 and 2003 meaning there are now two unitary authorities - Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire County Council.

I'ver heard this solution could work here - with Ipswich taking over all the local council responsibilities around the county town and a separate Suffolk County Council running everything else from Lowestoft to Haverhill.

But having just come back from a weekend break in Salisbury, the largest place in Wiltshire now Swindon has been separated, and met up with an old friend there I'm convinced that would be a disaster for Suffolk.

For a start the self-governing Swindon Borough Council is much larger than Ipswich - 230,000 rather than 130,000. That's not to say the town is much larger - the borough includes all the suburbs around it.

A unitary Ipswich would need to be expanded to include Kesgrave, Rushmere, Claydon, Blakenham, Bramford, Sproughton, Pinewood, Nacton and Martlesham.

In my experience that is the last thing most residents of those communities want! They may look far more like urban housing estates than individual villages, but that isn't how they are perceived by people living there.

And from what I've heard, even with a population of 230,000 Swindon is seen as a "tiny" upper tier authority that really doesn't have the sway to get government help even when it needs it - like when the Honda factory closed.

At the other end of the scale the historic city of Salisbury now finds all its decisions being taken 33 miles away in Trowbridge.

Salisbury City Council exists but is essential just a parish council with additional responsibilities for car parks and public toilets.

I understand there is constant grumbling about a city with 45,000 inhabitants not having control over planning - with some residents calling it "Smallsbury."

If a unitary Suffolk had its headquarters in Bury St Edmunds that might assuage its residents - but how would people from Lowestoft feel about all their council services being run from 50 miles away?

So I've rather belatedly come to the conclusion that single-tier structures really wouldn't work in Suffolk.

Having said that the one change that can't come soon enough is the merging of Mid-Suffolk and Babergh councils so they have one political as well as one administative structure. 

If we had that we would have had far more certainty about the shape of the local government over the last two weeks.

We wouldn't have had the back-biting and squabbling that have been a feature of Babergh politics for decades 

A combined Mid Suffolk/Babergh would have had a majority Green administration in place by early last week without all the jostling for position that was taking place until the day of Babergh's annual meeting.