Lewes District Council elections
Local government elections in East Sussex, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewes District Council in East Sussex, England is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2019, 41 councillors are elected from 21 wards.
Political parties
From its formation, until 2013, the council comprised mainly Conservative and Liberal Democrat or Liberal councillors, with a small number of independents and some Labour councillors at different points. However, in 2013 two Conservative members of the council crossed the floor and joined UKIP, giving the party its first Lewes District councillors. This also meant that the Conservatives lost control of the council, putting it in No overall control. In 2015, neither of the previous UKIP members were re-elected; however, a new UKIP District Councillor was elected to the council, and, for the first time in its history, three Green Party councillors.
2019 saw the Conservative Party return 19 councillors, and the Green Party increase their representation to nine councillors, becoming the second largest party, ahead of the Liberal Democrats, who managed eight. The Labour Party elected three councillors, and they were joined by two Independents.
However in 2021, one Green Party Councillor left the Green Party to join the Liberal Democrats on Lewes Council, making the Liberal Democrats the second largest party.[1] In 2022 the Labour Party gained a seat from the Conservatives in a by-election. Then, in the 2023 local elections for all 41 Council seats, the Conservatives and Independents lost all of their remaining seats of Lewes Council, leaving the Green Party as the largest group, the Liberal Democrats as the second largest group, and the Labour Party as the remaining group.
Council composition
| Year | Conservative | Liberal Democrats[a] | Labour | Green | UKIP | Independents & Others |
Council control after election | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local government reorganisation; council established (47 seats) | ||||||||
| 1973 | 29 | 0 | 10 | – | – | 8 | Conservative | |
| 1976 | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 4 | Conservative | |
| 1979 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | 3 | Conservative | |
| New ward boundaries (47 seats) | ||||||||
| 1983 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | Conservative | |
| 1987 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | Conservative | |
| 1991 | 18 | 27 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | Liberal Democrats | |
| 1995 | 16 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Liberal Democrats | |
| 1999 | 16 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Liberal Democrats | |
| New ward boundaries (40 seats) | ||||||||
| 2003 | 11 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Liberal Democrats | |
| 2007 | 17 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Liberal Democrats | |
| 2011 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Conservative | |
| 2015 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Conservative | |
| New ward boundaries (40 seats) | ||||||||
| 2019 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2 | No overall control | |
| 2023 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 0 | No overall control | |
Results maps
2003 results map
2007 results map
2011 results map
2015 results map
2019 results map
2023 results map
By-election results
1999–2003
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 450 | 49.3 | +10.1 | ||
| Labour | 293 | 32.1 | +10.5 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | 169 | 18.5 | −20.7 | ||
| Majority | 157 | 17.2 | |||
| Turnout | 912 | 16.3 | |||
| Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | ||||
2003–2007
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Chistopher Bishop | 406 | 64.6 | +12.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Carla Butler | 113 | 18.0 | −12.0 | |
| Labour | John Carden | 109 | 17.4 | −0.8 | |
| Majority | 293 | 46.6 | |||
| Turnout | 628 | 18.2 | |||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Gardiner | 715 | 43.7 | +21.6 | |
| Conservative | Paul Gander | 521 | 31.8 | +6.5 | |
| Seagulls | Edward Bassford | 359 | 21.9 | +21.9 | |
| Labour | Trevor Hopper | 41 | 2.5 | −10.7 | |
| Majority | 194 | 12.9 | |||
| Turnout | 1,636 | 33.4 | |||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Independent | Swing | ||||
2015–2019
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Will Elliott | 543 | 44.6 | +17.1 | |
| Green | Johnny Denis | 345 | 28.3 | +7.7 | |
| Labour | Richard Hurn | 212 | 17.4 | +1.3 | |
| Conservative | Roy Burman | 117 | 9.6 | −2.4 | |
| Majority | 198 | 16.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,217 | ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Liz Boorman | 1,573 | 51.8 | +6.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Will Elliott | 806 | 26.6 | −0.5 | |
| Labour | Barbara Hayes | 363 | 12.0 | +12.0 | |
| UKIP | Eric Woodward | 152 | 5.0 | −14.2 | |
| Green | Zoe Ford | 141 | 4.6 | −3.9 | |
| Majority | 767 | 25.3 | |||
| Turnout | 3,035 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Johnny Denis | 835 | 38.7 | +22.3 | |
| Conservative | Clare Herbert | 660 | 30.6 | +1.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | James Gardiner | 457 | 21.2 | −8.0 | |
| Labour | Tim Telford | 167 | 7.7 | −4.4 | |
| UKIP | Phil Howson | 38 | 1.8 | −11.5 | |
| Majority | 175 | 8.1 | |||
| Turnout | 2,161 | 42 | |||
| Green gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Nancy Bikson | 563 | 53.6 | +4.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Marion Hughes | 324 | 30.8 | +5.0 | |
| Labour | Nicholas Belcher | 104 | 9.9 | +9.9 | |
| Green | Brenda Barnes | 60 | 5.7 | −6.4 | |
| Majority | 239 | 22.7 | |||
| Turnout | 1,051 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
2019–2023
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Turner | 820 | 47.5 | +6.8 | |
| Green | James Meek | 452 | 26.2 | +4.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Pinky Adil | 347 | 20.1 | +20.1 | |
| Labour | Ann Biddle | 109 | 6.3 | −10.2 | |
| Majority | 368 | 21.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,728 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Linda Wallraven | 1,028 | 56.3 | +9.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Olivia Honeyman | 401 | 22.0 | +22.0 | |
| Green | Gemma McFarlane | 277 | 15.2 | −19.0 | |
| Labour | Chris Purser | 120 | 6.6 | −12.8 | |
| Majority | 627 | 34.3 | |||
| Turnout | 1,826 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ciarron Clarkson | 641 | 54.7 | +54.7 | |
| Conservative | Katie Sanderson | 467 | 39.8 | +13.8 | |
| Green | Holly Atkins | 32 | 2.7 | −14.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Elizabeth Lee | 32 | 2.7 | −13.8 | |
| Majority | 174 | 14.8 | |||
| Turnout | 1,172 | ||||
| Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
2023–2027
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Sue Morris | 315 | 42.3 | −10.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Nadine Stothard | 216 | 29.0 | +18.2 | |
| Conservative | Sarah Webster | 213 | 28.6 | −7.9 | |
| Majority | 99 | 13.3 | |||
| Turnout | 744 | ||||
| Green hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Corina Watts | 697 | 51.7 | ||
| Reform | Bill Payne | 389 | 28.9 | ||
| Green | David Hoare | 122 | 9.1 | ||
| Conservative | Richard Turner | 59 | 4.4 | ||
| Independent | Steve Saunders | 57 | 4.2 | ||
| Labour | Linda Drabble | 23 | 1.7 | ||
| Majority | 308 | 22.9 | |||
| Turnout | 1,347 | ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
See also
- 1983 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries)[14]
- 1995 Lewes District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)[15]
- 2003 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries reduced the number of seats by 7)[16][17]
- 2015 Lewes District Council election
- 2019 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries)
- 2023 Lewes District Council election
Notes
- Includes totals for the predecessors of the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party and SDP (both of which participated in the Alliance).