Zero turnout for West Sussex elections
It’s Non-Election Day for Horsham District voters and across West Sussex, following the cancellation of the West Sussex County Council Elections.
Across the country, voters are going to the polls on Thursday May 1st, to give their verdict on local county councils and mayors. But here in West Sussex, voters have been blocked, with not a single vote cast.
The ruling Conservative administration at West Sussex County Council has taken advantage of the opportunity provided by local government reform to ask for a ‘postponement’ of the normal election. In practice, and according to Cabinet papers, the reality is that the current councillors will stand for another 3 years, until the new unitary council takes over in 2028. The current Conservative-led WSCC mandate should have expired on 1st May 2025, yet they will be allowed to run the Council until 2028, long past their expiry date.
The cancellation decision is unpopular with many Conservative voters and contradicts statements by the party’s national leadership. Robert Jenrick tweeted that “Elections should only be postponed in truly exceptional circumstances …maybe Labour don’t want to face the electorate?”
The irony is that in West Sussex, as across much of the country, it is mostly Conservative administrations who have opted for cancellation. Opinion polls suggested that the Conservatives would drop seats to almost every party in a West Sussex election, probably losing overall control, with the Liberal Democrats emerging as the largest party and well-placed to form a new administration, with a mandate from the people.
Many Conservative councillors are likely to hang onto their positions long past the point when they had expected to step down. Elected to 4 year terms, they could serve as long as 7 years without ever having to face the electorate. In January, Liberal Democrats from across Sussex marched on County Hall in Chichester to protest the postponement of democracy.
James Walsh, Lib Dem Leader in WSCC, comments:
“This is a fundamentally undemocratic decision. It leaves West Sussex County Council in the hands of a small, unrepresentative Cabinet at a time when important decisions with lasting consequences need to be made about the future of local government in West Sussex.”