Lewes District Council elections

Lewes District council in East Sussex, England is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2003, 41 councillors are elected from 21 wards.

Following the election on 2 May 2019 the Council is composed as follows

YearConservativeLiberal DemocratGreen PartyIndependent LabourUKIP
2015241132 01
2019[1] 19 8 9 2 3 0

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, since then, one Green Party Councillor has left the Green Party to join the Liberal Democrats on Lewes Council, making the Liberal Democrats the second largest party.[2]

Political control

Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[3]

Party in controlYears
Conservative1973–1991
Liberal Democrats1991–2011
Conservative2011–2013
No overall control2013–2015
Conservative2015–2018
No overall control2018–present

Council elections
  • 1973 Lewes District Council election
  • 1976 Lewes District Council election
  • 1979 Lewes District Council election
  • 1983 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries)[4]
  • 1987 Lewes District Council election
  • 1991 Lewes District Council election
  • 1995 Lewes District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)[5]
  • 1999 Lewes District Council election
  • 2003 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries reduced the number of seats by 7)[6][7]
  • 2007 Lewes District Council election
  • 2011 Lewes District Council election
  • 2015 Lewes District Council election
  • 2019 Lewes District Council election (New ward boundaries)

By-election results

1999-2003
Peacehaven North By-Election 6 December 2001
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
Peacehaven North By-Election 15 December 2005[8]
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
Ouse Valley and Ringmer By-Election 17 August 2006[9]
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-present
Ouse Valley & Ringmer by-election 7 September 2017[10]
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

References
  1. "Full Results Notice (Lewes District District Council) - 2 May 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  2. "Council's mental health champion resigns from Lewes Green group". sussexexpress.co.uk. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  3. "Council compositions". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  4. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Lewes (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1979. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  5. legislation.gov.uk - The East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent (County Boundaries) Order 1992. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  6. "Lewes". BBC Online. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  7. legislation.gov.uk - The District of Lewes (Electoral Changes) Order 2001. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
  8. "Lib Dem infighting sees mixed byelection results". guardian.co.uk. 2005-12-16. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  9. "By-election - Lewes District Council" (PDF). Lewes District Council. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  10. "Result of poll" (PDF). Lewes District Council. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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