Elections postponed as devolution gets green light

Elections for the first Mayor of Sussex are due to be held in May 2026

County council elections due to be held in East and West Sussex this May are being postponed as Sussex joins the Government's fast-track devolution scheme.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced Sussex has been included in the six areas accepted into the devolution priority programme (DPP) and will move towards electing its first mayor in May 2026.

The leaders of East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove councils said it was "excellent", "historic" and "exciting" news for Sussex.

But there has been opposition from some borough and district council leaders to elections being postponed.

Sussex will now move towards having an elected mayor in March 2026 and reorganise existing councils into three unitary authorities.

Councillor Keith Glazier, leader of East Sussex County Council, said: "I believe this is excellent news for the people of Sussex because it's an opportunity for more decisions to be made locally and for greater investment here."

Councillor Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said she was "optimistic and ambitious" about devolution.

"It will mean that more money is directly invested in our area and that better transport, affordable housing and skills and job creation can be accelerated," she added.

While Councillor Paul Marshall, leader of West Sussex County Council, said: "A mayoral authority will give our communities greater influence in the big decisions that affect the region, such as our highways, housing, and economic growth, plus much-needed long-term financial stability."

'Deeply disappointed'

Rayner, who is also the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, agreed to cancel elections in May because she said the government was "not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won't exist".

The Green Party and Liberal Democrat leaders of four out of five of the East Sussex borough and district councils had written to the government to object to elections being postponed.

Following the announcement, Councillor Zoe Nicholson, Green Party leader of Lewes District Council, said she was "deeply disappointed".

She added: "The Government has rejected our calls to protect the democratic rights of East Sussex residents and instead is favouring propping up an administration which has been a minority administration for the last 18 months, and will hang on to power completely unnecessarily for probably the next two years, maybe three."

A devolution consultation will now be held before the end of March 2025.

The results will be assessed in the spring and a ministerial decision will be taken as to whether to proceed with a mayoral strategic authority prior to unitary re-organisation.