Rainbow Coalition Takes Control Of West Sussex County Council After Historic Election Result

Group leaders (from left) Martin McCabe, Ian Davey, Donna Johnson and Jay Mercer have formed a coalition

A rainbow coalition has taken control of West Sussex County Council after no single party secured an overall majority in this month’s local elections.

A partnership made up of the Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Labour and an independent councillor officially assumed leadership of the authority at a meeting on Friday.

The Conservatives lost control of the council for the first time since 1997 following the election on 7 May.

Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats each won 23 seats, making them the joint largest parties on the authority, but neither secured enough seats to govern alone.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jay Mercer, who will lead the council, said the new administration would “value the input of every single member who wants to see West Sussex thrive”.

He added:

“We have an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate that collaboration delivers better outcomes than conflict.”

The Green Party won seven seats, Labour secured five, while independent councillor Donna Johnson, representing the Local Alliance party, retained her seat and will serve as council chair.

The Conservatives were left with 11 seats.

The newly elected councillors may not serve a full four-year term due to planned local government reorganisation, which is expected to see Sussex councils replaced with unitary authorities from 2028.

Mr Mercer said financial pressures facing councils across the country remained significant and warned the reorganisation process would “demand our absolute best”.