THERE were shock results in Babergh for two long standing Conservative councillors, one of them the group leader Richard Cave – who lost his seat in the Nayland ward.

THERE were shock results in Babergh for two long standing Conservative councillors, one of them the group leader Richard Cave – who lost his seat in the Nayland ward.

Sylvia Byham also lost her seat after long service in Sudbury East.

Mr Cave said he was disappointed and surprised: “Our canvassing indicated that we had a clear margin. It's very puzzling to say the least.

“I'm beginning to think the ward (boundary) change has made a difference. We had nearly 60% more voters, a lot of whom won't know me.”

He said the only explanations he could come up with in the immediate aftermath were the ward boundary changes and possibly that the results reflected national dissatisfaction with the party.

In Hadleigh North there was a shock result as all three sitting councillors lost their seats. Eileen Banks, Independent, Peter Matthews and Ann Stephenson, both Lib Dems, lost their seats to Keith Grimsey and Jim Quinlan, both Labour.

It's possible that the long-standing opposition, particularly by Mrs Banks, to Tesco's bid to build a supermarket behind the town's High Street, played a part in this result.

Turnout across the district varied with the lowest turnout in the new ward of Pinewood at 18%. It was also low across Sudbury, varying between 23 and 26% but in the newly created wards turnout seemed in general to have been higher.

At the time of going to press the Liberal Democrats had the largest number of seats at 18, Independents seven, Labour four, Conservatives nine and one councillor Clive Arthey, who does not disclose any party allegiance.