Overview
- Councillors convened an extraordinary meeting after a protest at Endeavour House in Ipswich over a possible third election postponement in 13 months.
- Members rejected an amendment to let councillors take a formal stance against delay by a two-thirds margin, then approved authorising the cabinet to reply to ministers by a two-thirds vote.
- Council leader Matthew Hicks said any postponement is for the government to decide and argued a delay could free capacity to progress devolution plans.
- Opposition parties and Reform UK denounced any delay as undemocratic, with heated exchanges that included reprimands for offensive language during the debate.
- The dispute is framed by competing devolution proposals, with the county leadership pushing a single unitary ‘One Suffolk’ and districts advocating three unitary councils, putting the original May 2026 timeline in doubt.