Sussex election results 2023: Tories lose Wealden for first time in 25 years

Wealden has gone to no overall control after being Conservative-led for nearly fifty years

The Conservative Party has lost control of Wealden District Council for the first time in 25 years.

The Tories' misery in Wealden was compounded with Labour winning its first seat on the council since it was set up half a century ago.

Horsham has also changed hands, going from Conservative to Liberal Democrat control after the Tories lost 21 seats.

The Conservatives also saw poor results in Chichester, while Labour took control of Brighton and Hove.

In Worthing, Labour - who were already the largest party - took three seats from the Tories.

Another Labour-run authority, Crawley, saw the the Conservatives lose one seat to Labour. The Tories also lost four seats in Rother, which remains without an overall majority.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats gained an extra seat on Eastbourne Borough Council, bringing their total to 19 seats, compared to the Conservatives' eight.

They also gained control of Chichester, which had no overall control in 2019. In Lewes, the Conservatives lost all of their 19 seats but the council stayed under no overall control.

• Follow live: Local election results for the South East

In Horsham, previously considered a safe council for the Tories, the Conservative leader of the council Claire Vickers lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats.

She blamed her loss on voters' being disaffected with central government.

Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, told Ben Weisz, political reporter for BBC Radio Sussex: "Nowhere is out of bounds for the Labour Party in the South East."

His party gained control of Brighton and Hove, which previously had no overall majority.

In a tweet, Beccy Cooper, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, thanked local residents for the election result.

"Fantastic to hold all our seats and to gain an additional fabulous councillor in Castle Ward," she said.

Counting under way in Wealden which has been Conservative-held since the 1970s

Analysis

By Ben Weisz, BBC Radio Sussex political reporter, in Brighton

The last time anyone had a majority in Brighton and Hove (admittedly under a different electoral map), Fatboy Slim was number one.

But right here, right now, Labour have done it again, by squeezing votes from the Tories and the Greens, building a solid majority that should see out the next four years.

The party also strengthened its hold on Crawley and Worthing.

But some of Sussex's other results are even more striking. The Tories failed to regain Rother, lost control of Wealden, and the Lib Dems gained Chichester and Horsham.

That's not to say voters have completely rejected the Conservatives - they've gained some wards along the coast too. But broadly this has been a disaster for the party - which was completely wiped out in Lewes.

Local Conservatives blamed the national party's travails - others simply shrugged. "That's politics", one councillor told me, after she lost the seat she'd held for 24 years.

For the Tories, the soul searching begins now.

• Who won in my area?

• Results in maps and charts

• Nick Eardley: Tory MPs are getting worried

• Chris Mason: The sniping begins

• Scrap voter ID, say critics

• Watch: Reaction at the counts

• When is the next general election?

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