Elections for Ipswich Borough Council were held on Thursday 1 May 2008. One third of the seats were up for election. The Labour Party won enough seats to become the largest party gaining 3 seats (2 from Con 1 from Lib Dem). The Conservatives had been the largest party since the Ipswich Council election 2006. The results came as a stark contrast which saw the Conservatives make significant gains from Labour across the country. Particular disappointments for the Conservatives came when they lost Rushmere and Bridge to Labour and narrowly failed to gain St Margaret's from the Liberal Democrats, while narrowly holding onto St John's by a mere 3 votes. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats lost Whitehouse.
After the Ipswich Council election 2008, the composition of the council was
Despite the losses, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition continued to run the Council with a reduced majority of 6 seats.