‘RIP democracy’ signs at protest outside East Sussex County Council in Lewes

Protestors held up signs with slogans like ‘RIP democracy’ and even made a mock coffin.

Lewes Green Party had announced the event for 9.30am on Thursday, January 9, outside County Hall in St Anne’s Crescent. The Greens said it was timed to start before the 10am extraordinary full council meeting.

East Sussex district and borough council leaders had said the proposal to cancel the county council elections could be made so Sussex is considered a priority area for devolution in a step towards creating a new mayoral combined authority covering East and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

East Sussex County Council confirmed on Wednesday, January 8, that their cabinet would discuss at the Thursday meeting whether to submit a joint proposal with Brighton and Hove and West Sussex for devolution of powers across Sussex. But they said it is for the Government to consider whether to postpone one election.

In a joint statement made before the protest the East Sussex leaders said: “It is unacceptable that our residents, the voters, won’t decide who runs the county council – the body national government have deemed responsible for reorganisation. It must be up to our residents to decide who makes these changes to services. We support increased regional powers, particularly around public transport, climate action, skills, energy, and planning, but we do not agree with doing this at the expense of local democracy.”

In response, a spokesperson for East Sussex County Council explained that the government wants combined authorities to provide strategic leadership on issues like housing, growth and transport for areas of more than 1.5 million people.

They said: “Cabinet has therefore been called to discuss these issues and decide whether to proceed with a proposal for devolution with a combined authority for Sussex, including an elected mayor. The full council will also meet on the same day, at the request of members. The cabinets of Brighton and Hove City Council and West Sussex County Council are also meeting on 9 January to consider the issues. If all three cabinets agree, the three councils will submit a collective proposal to Government for Sussex to be a priority area for devolution."

They said a possible outcome of the application would be the Government postponing the 2025 county council elections with a view to electing the mayor for a strategic authority in 2026. They said there are no changes to local government or its services at this time.

A spokesperson for Divest East Sussex, who were at the protest, criticised the East Sussex Conservatives, saying they had been ‘resisting meaningful climate action’ for 11 years and could be in power for two more years ‘without any election or democratic accountability’.