New councillors for Holywells and Stoke Park in Ipswich

Holywells councillor Nic El-Safty took the seat from the Conservatives with a 337 vote majority.

Labour increased their majority on Ipswich Borough Council after winning five seats during last week's election.

The party won Gainsborough, Holywells, Sprites, Stoke Park, and Whitton wards, which were seats that had been taken by the Tories in 2021 in an election delayed by the pandemic.

Nic El-Safty has been elected councillor for the Holywells ward in Ipswich. (Image: Ipswich Labour)

Cllr El-Safty said she would not only work to improve Holywells Park with vibrant events and work to create internship-style schemes to offer teenagers somewhere to go but also become a role model.

She added: “I want to show people, especially young women, in my ward and Ipswich that it is doable, no matter your background.

“I want residents to feel they can just call up and say what they need to say because if you want a ward that works well, you need to be approachable, I’m just like everyone else.”

Stoke Park voted in freelance creative designer Chu Mann to represent the ward.

Chu Mann won the Stoke Park seat during last week's elections. (Image: Ipswich Labour)

The councillor said his focus would be on bringing spaces in Stoke Park and across the borough back into use, tackle anti-social behaviour, improve the state of roads, and make sure safe and secure social housing was delivered for the most vulnerable.

The councillor also ran last year but fell 100 votes short.

Cllr Mann said: “I knew it was going to be a challenge but that’s part and parcel of the way I am, it shows no seat is out of bounds for Labour.

“There are a lot of things going on and it’s all about being more connected but there are a lot of challenges because the council doesn’t own every single empty shop.

“We’re here to help people irrespective of how people voted and it’s about how we repurpose the town to make it more reflective of the modern economy and build on what we have done well.”