West Sussex consists of seven Districts and the County Council.

There is quite a bit of political turmoil here and Horsham has had four Leaders (five if you count the interim one) in two years. This Council looks like the LibDems might gain it under the leadership of Cllr Martin Boffey who was only elected in 2019 and became leader of the LibDems in 2021.

Chichester also looks like the LibDems might make a gain.

Mid Sussex also looks like it might be a challenge for the Tories.

  1. Worthing – Labour – Labour HOLD
    • Third of council up for election.
    • A recent flip to Labour after decades of Conservative rule – expected for this to remain a Labour held council this year.
    • Worthing has a joint management structure with Adur Council with a single Chief Executive across both councils.
  2. Arun – NOC – NOC HOLD
    • Full council up for election.
    • 2019 saw the council fall into NOC with the Lib Dems as the largest group, however with defections and by-election losses to the Conservatives the council flipped back to a Conservative minority administration.
    • We’re predicting another NOC council with the Lib Dems recovering the largest party position on the council.
  1. Chichester – NOC – Lib Dem GAIN
    • Full council up for election.
    • We’re predicting a small Lib Dem majority after the May election with losses from the Conservatives.
  1. Horsham – Conservative – Lib Dem GAIN
    • Full council up for election.
    • Horsham has had political turmoil with four council leaders over the past two years due to the local plan process.
    • We’re predicting that the Liberal Democrats will win control of Horsham DC in May.
  1. Crawley – Labour – Labour HOLD
    • Third of the council up for election
    • Labour currently have a majority of one, and we’re expecting this to increase this election.
  1. Mid Sussex – Conservative – NOC GAIN
    • Full council up for election
    • We’re predicting that the Liberal Democrats and Greens will make gains across this council pushing the Council into No Overall Control, and a likely coalition agreement to take control of the council.
  1. Adur – Conservative
    • No election this year