Across the region the Conservatives were celebrating wildly on Friday after sweeping all before them and claiming decisive victories in county council elections.

Ipswich Star: Local elections 2017Local elections 2017 (Image: Archant)

But will their double-digit majorities really be a boon for the political leaders? Or will they find their army of backbench councillors becomes quarrelsome in future?

In Suffolk the Tory majority went up from zero to 29 after the party claimed 52 seats on the 75-seat authority.

That means full council meetings will become mere formalities – councillors will be whipped to do whatever their leaders want and even if one or two rebel occasionally there will be nothing to stop their policies getting through.

That’s the good news for council leader Colin Noble.

The bad news for him is that with such a huge majority he will find it very difficult to keep his councillors busy. There are only enough cabinet members, deputy cabinet members, and committee chairs to occupy about 20 councillors. That leaves 32 backbenchers.

Many of them will be happy pottering around their divisions and doing what they’re told to do when they come to Endeavour House.

But there will be a significant number of ambitious young members, hacked-off former cabinet members, and those who simply want to make a name for themselves to cause Mr Noble a few sleepless nights.

I’m told there is not likely to be a realistic threat to his leadership at tomorrow’s annual meeting of the Conservative group – but the leader is not someone who is universally revered among his colleagues.

There are those who will be watching how he performs over the next year – and if they don’t like the way the council is heading they could well try to change the leader in 12 months’ time.

I’m not expecting major changes to the current cabinet when Mr Noble unveils his “new” administration – although I would be very surprised if former borough Conservative group leader and parliamentary candidate Paul West was not installed as cabinet member for Ipswich.

There may be a big majority for the ruling party at Endeavour House – but that does not mean local politics in Suffolk will be dull for the next four years!