Norfolk elections: Labour hold Norwich but lose seat to Greens

Labour have retained control of Norwich City Council but lost one seat.

Thirteen councillors, one in each ward, were seeking election.

The Green party picked up the Sewell ward, previously held by Labour, and all other seats remained with the same party.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats held on to the Mulbarton and Stoke Holy Cross ward on South Norfolk Council in a by-election.

The former Liberal Democrat councillor for the ward stepped down due to ill health.

Labour, which now has 25 seats, could not lose control of the city council, but the Green Party had been hoping to make gains.

The Conservatives had fielded candidates in all 13 wards.

By Jo Thewlis, BBC Radio Norfolk political reporter

After weeks of campaigning, today's result in the Norwich City Council elections was not as dazzling as some had hoped.

The Greens took Sewell ward from Labour's Matt Packer, a former cabinet member on the authority.

Alex Catt won the seat for the Greens by 398 votes.

He claims the result shows people in the city support the Green message and want to take action to tackle climate change.

But the changing of the Sewell ward was the only drama of the day.

Alan Waters, the Labour leader of Norwich City Council, said: "Across the East of England [Labour have] made significant gains and that's a really good building block for moving forward in the region but also in terms of preparing for the next general election."

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