The Labour party has announced a former Suffolk county councillor as their candidate to be Ipswich MP.

Jack Abbott, 31, was formerly the party's education spokesman at Suffolk County Council and contested the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat for Labour in the 2015 General Election.

Mr Abbott, who now works for a renewable energy trade association, said: "It's a real honour and a privilege to be selected by so many Labour members and to have had so much support through the entire six-week campaign from people of all political stripes.

"At the same time, though, this is only the beginning. This is day one of the real campaign now. And so the hard work has only really just begun.

"Given the political situation, we could have a general election in two months, or we could have it in two years, so the important thing is to start work immediately.

"My pitch has been based on three main things leadership, unity, and ambition. I think those three things are really, really important. And hopefully, they will mean that not only can we win the next general election, but actually deliver a real vision for what Ipswich can be in the future as well."

Ipswich, where Tom Hunt won a majority of 5,500 in 2019, is seen as being one of the seats Labour is targeting in the East of England.

Mr Abbott said that if elected he would be particularly focussed on supporting children and young families through the cost-of-living crisis and working to ensure that green energy jobs come to Ipswich.

He said: "It's alleviating and tackling the immediate cost pressures and taking kids and families out of poverty, but it's also putting a long-term economic future in place as well."

The Liberal Democrats are currently in the process of selecting their candidate in Ipswich.