The Labour Party made gains as it retained firm control of Ipswich Borough Council in the local elections – the party now holds three quarters of the seats on the council.

The Conservatives lost three seats in the election, with Labour winning two and the Liberal Democrats one.

Labour now holds 36 of the 48 seats with the Conservatives on nine and the Lib Dems with three.

The results were declared overnight in a longer count than many had expected – there were no recounts anywhere in the borough.

Officials said there were a number of spoilt ballot papers, however, which led to delays.

Voters had written “Brexit” across some ballot papers – Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party did not field candidates in the local elections – or had simply made other marks on papers.

Each had to be individually adjudicated and there were more than usual – but when the numbers of spoilt papers were announced at the end of the count they were not significantly higher than in previous years.

Labour won Rushmere and Whitton from the Tories. That was no surprise – they were both surprise Conservative gains in 2015, and most people seemed to be expecting those results.

The Conservatives did, however, successfully defend the Stoke Park and Holywells seats which also have “split” councillors – and those results did given them a lift during the county.

However they were crushed in St Margaret’s which they took off the Liberal Democrats in 2015. Sitting councillor Lee Reynolds was defeated by more than 900 votes by Liberal Democrat Tim Lockington, the husband of group leader Inga Lockington.

But the Liberal Democrats are now very much a one-ward party in Ipswich – outside St Margaret’s they performed very badly, finishing below both The Green Party and UKIP in many wards.

While UKIP is not the force it once was, this election proved that it can still attract some pro-Brexit voters. Whether they stay or migrate to Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party in the European Elections remains to be seen.

The Greens are making inroads into the Ipswich vote year-on-year, but unlike the Liberal Democrats their support appears to be spread more evenly through the town – they are nowhere near making an electoral breakthrough in any individual ward.

Full results below

Alexandra Ward

Jane Riley (Lab) 1,034, Katherine West (C) 379, Tom Wilmot (G) 341, Henry Williams (LD) 172. Turnout: 28.18%.

Bixley Ward

Richard Pope (C) 1,026, Paul Anderson (Lab) 522, Lesley Packwood (G) 326, Robert Chambers (LD) 173. Turnout 36.25%

Bridge Ward

Phil Smart (Lab) 738, Murray Brunning (C), 351, Catherine Kersey (UKIP) 250, Charlotte Armstrong (G) 221, Immo Weichert (LD) 87. Turnout 25.54%.

Castle Hill Ward

Erion Xhaferaj (C) 876, John Harris (Lab) 511, Sophie Williams (LD) 311. Turnout 30.36%.

Gainsborough Ward

Martin Cook (Lab) 736, Shayne Pooley (UKIP) 384, Josh Owens (C) 359, Brienna Patmore (G) 92, Robin Whitmore (LD) 52. Turnout 26.33%.

Gipping Ward

Peter Gardiner (Lab) 738, Paul Cawthorn (C) 344, Karl Pickering (UKIP) 212 Nigel Storey (G) 127, Gerald Pryke (LD) 112. Turnout: 22.40%.

Holywells Ward

Liz Harsant (C) 918, Shofik Ali (Lab) 733, Jenny Rivett (G)272, Paul Daley (LD), 120. Turnout: 35.87%.

Priory Heath Ward

Luke Richardson (Lab) 925, Sam Murray (C) 538, Chris Newbury (Ind) 252,Andy Patmore (G) 153, Lucy Drake (LD) 108. Turnout: 30.05%.

Rushmere Ward

Kelvin Cracknell (Lab) 935, Stephen Ion (C) 812, Lee Morris (G) 256, Nicholas Jacobs (LD) 169. Turnout: 35.37%.

Sprites Ward

Jennifer Smith (Lab) 717, Mike Scanes (C), 414, Julie Hassell (UKIP) 210, Adria Pittock (G), Conrad Packwood (LD) 60. Turnout: 28.68%.

St John’s Ward

Shelley Darwin (Lab) 1,030, Mark Phillips (C) 474, Jo Grant (UKIP) 251, Jude Rook (G), Edward Packard (LD) 127. Turnout: 32.24%.

St Margaret’s Ward

Tim Lockington (LD) 1,533, Lee Reynolds (C) 627, Maggie Barradell (Lab) 439, Kirsty Wilmot (G) 270. Turnout: 44.95%.

Stoke Park Ward

Bob Hall (C) 684, Tony Blacker (Lab) 615, Alan Cotterell (UKIP) 240, Barry Broom (G), 110, Maureen Haaker (LD) 72. Turnout: 35.67%. Westgate Ward

Julian Gibbs (Lab) 807, Chris Chambers (C) 301, Mark Schumer (UKIP) 196, John Mann (G) 170, Martin Hore (LD) 136. Turnout: 24.97%.

Whitehouse Ward

Lucy Trenchard (Lab) 578, Stephen Lark (C) 288, Tony Gould (UKIP) 283, Michelle Brown (LD) 117, Ned Harrison (G) 101. Turnout: 21.96%.

Whitton Ward

Darren Heaps (Lab) 776, John Downie (C) 552, David Hurlbut (UKIP) 259, Daniel Davey (LD) 152. Turnout: 29.37%.