Lewes District

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:

• Chailey Rural District
• Lewes Municipal Borough
• Newhaven Urban District
• Seaford Urban District The new district was named after Lewes, the ancient county town of Sussex.

Since 2016 the council has shared a chief executive and other staff with nearby Eastbourne Borough Council.

Governance

Labour Green ;Administration (24) : Green (16) : Labour (8) ;Other parties (17) : :

Lewes District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by East Sussex County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the South Downs National Park Authority. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2018. Since the 2023 election an alliance of the Greens and Labour has formed the council's administration.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 41 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The wards, with their populations at the 2021 Census, are:

The district straddles the constituencies of Lewes and Brighton Kemptown.

Premises

The council is based at Marine Workshops, a former industrial building in Newhaven which it shares with East Sussex Colleges Group.

When created in 1974 the council inherited four sets of offices from its predecessor councils:

• Lewes House, 32 High Street, Lewes from Chailey Rural District Council.
• Lewes Town Hall and the adjoining municipal offices at 4 Fisher Street from Lewes Town Council.
• 20 Fort Road, Newhaven from Newhaven Urban District Council.
• The Downs, Sutton Road, Seaford from Seaford Urban District Council.

The Downs was converted into housing and a leisure centre built behind it. The new council's offices were divided between the other three buildings. In 1998 the council acquired Southover House on Southover Road in Lewes, which had previously been offices of East Sussex County Council, to serve as its main offices, remaining there until 2023 when it moved to Marine Workshops.

Geography

The Prime Meridian passes through the district.

Sussex Police has its head office in the town of Lewes.

Towns and parishes

The whole district is divided into civil parishes. The parish councils for Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford and Telscombe take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.

‡ St John Without, St Ann Without, Tarring Neville and Southease are separate civil parishes with parish meetings, but due to their small size population statistics are not published separately for them.

References

References

1. "Lewes Local Authority".
2. (2009). "Lewes District Council: News and local information". Lewes District Council.
3. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
4. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
5. (20 May 2025). "New Chair of Lewes District Council elected". Sussex World.
6. (22 May 2023). "Council minutes, 22 May 2023".
7. (15 January 2016). "Robert Cottrill has been formally confirmed as shared chief executive for Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council". The Argus.
8. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
9. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey.
10. "Members".
11. (23 May 2023). "Greens and Labour join forces to run Lewes District Council". Sussex World.
12. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
13. "Election 2011 - England council elections - Lewes".
14. "Council minutes, 27 April 2011". Lewes District Council.
15. "Council minutes, 25 May 2011". Lewes District Council.
16. "Council minutes, 20 February 2012". Lewes District Council.
17. "Council minutes, 26 February 2014". Lewes District Council.
18. (17 September 2015). "Leader of Lewes District Council resigns". ITV News.
19. "Council minutes, 14 October 2015". Lewes District Council.
20. (3 May 2019). "Tory leader at Lewes District Council loses his seat". Sussex World.
21. "Council minutes, 20 May 2019". Lewes District Council.
22. "Council minutes, 15 July 2019". Lewes District Council.
23. "Council minutes, 20 July 2020". Lewes District Council.
24. "Council minutes, 15 July 2021". Lewes District Council.
25. "Council minutes, 18 July 2022". Lewes District Council.
26. "Council minutes, 22 May 2023". Lewes District Council.
27. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
28. (5 April 2024). "North Northants gets the Bill". Thorncliffe.
29. (14 June 2024). "Labour's win is Clydebuilt". Local Councils.
30. "Lewes". Thorncliffe.
31. {{cite legislation UK. (2016)
32. (6 October 2023). "New cultural hub in Lewes".
33. (3 February 2022). "Council to move out of Southover House in Lewes". Sussex World.
34. "[https://www.sussex.police.uk/contact-us/non-emergency-enquiries Non-emergency enquiries]." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20101221222945/https://sussex.police.uk/contact-us/non-emergency-enquiries Archive]) [[Sussex Police]]. Retrieved 13 February 2011. "Sussex Police Headquarters Church Lane, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2DZ."
35. "Town and Parish Council contact details".