Its council was based in Melton, having moved from neighbouring Woodbridge in 2017.

Other towns include Felixstowe, Framlingham, Leiston, Aldeburgh, and Saxmundham.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Aldeburgh, along with Felixstowe, Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham and Woodbridge urban districts, and Blyth Rural District and Deben Rural District.

[4] Below is a list of wards with the number of councillors they returned in the relevant periods.

There were 118 civil parishes and towns distributed amongst these wards.