East Sussex County Council remains in no overall control, but with a very different political makeup following a Reform surge.
Going into the election, the county council had 22 Conservative councillors, 11 Liberal Democrats, 6 Green Party councillors, 5 Labour councillors, 2 independents, 2 Independent Democrats and 2 Reform UK councillors.
It now stands at: 22 Reform UK councillors, 13 Liberal Democrats, 11 Green Party councillors, 3 Conservatives and 1 Independent.
Reform UK had the strongest showing of the day picking up 21 new seats and successfully defending Hastings Ashdown and Conquest with an increased majority.
The party saw particularly strong performances in Rother, including in Rye, and Wealden, picking up 7 out of the 9 available seats in Rother and 10 out of the 15 available seats in Wealden.
Overall, Conservatives lost 18 seats across the county and made no new gains. Once the council’s largest group, it is now left with only 3 councillors.
Labour also had a painful day, losing all 5 of its county council seats.
However, the Greens and Liberal Democrats saw gains.
The Liberal Democrats secured 5 new seats but lost one to Reform UK.
Greens secured 7 new seats. 4 were flipped from Conservative to Green. 3 — all in Hastings — came from Labour. At the same time, it also lost 2 council seats.
But the party saw greater success in the Hastings Borough Council elections. The party took 10 out of the 17 borough council seats, which had been up for election this time round. The council is now formed of: 19 Green Party councillors; 6 Reform councillors; 3 Labour councillors; 2 Conservatives; and 2 Independents.
This means the Greens now have an overall majority on the borough council, having been running a minority administration for several years.
Image Credits: ESCC .