‘Stunning’ - Labour takes more than half of Worthing’s county council seats

Labour has made a number of gains at Worthing Borough Council over the years and the momentum carried into this year’s polls.

With results announced today (Saturday May 8), Labour took Broadwater (Dawn Smith), Worthing East (Caroline Baxter), Worthing Pier (John Turley) and Worthing (Beccy Cooper) from the Conservatives.

And the cherry on the top was taking Tarring from the Lib Dems.

With Bob Smytherman standing down, Labour’s Henna Chowdhury was elected just 28 votes ahead of Conservative Edwards Crouch, with Lib Dem Hazel Thorpe finishing a close third.

The Conservatives held Cissbury, Durrington & Salvington, Goring and Nortbrook.

Dr Cooper said: “These are the first Labour County Councillors that have ever been elected in Worthing’s long history, and to take more than half of those up for election in one year is a stunning endorsement of the support Labour is now getting in Worthing,”

She added: “Based on the progress we’ve made in Borough Council elections since 2017, we expected to be able to take two or three of the Worthing divisions in the County Council elections, but this result is even better than we could have hoped for.

“It’s an absolute pleasure and privilege to be one of those five Labour Councillors elected to represent Worthing on West Sussex County Council. For far too long, the voice of our local communities has been absent in Chichester. Worthing’s needs for decent social services, education and health provision have been an afterthought for West Sussex.

“With a strong local Worthing Labour voice, we’ll be shining a light on the utter incompetence of this Tory-dominated County Council to manage our essential public services. For far too long, Worthing has been a neglected and forgotten coastal town.

“That’s going to stop right now. This Labour team will represent the needs of our communities and we’ll be making sure that the decisions made in Chichester are the right ones for our town and reflect our importance as the largest town in the County.”

Ms Smith, whose result was the first to be announced at the count, said she was proud to be the first Labour councillor to represent Worthing on the County Council.

She explained: “Im very privileged to be part of a Labour Group of five, including four women. These results show that the people of Worthing are ready for positive change.

“For too long, many people have been ignored and left behind, we now have the opportunity to make sure that the voices of our residents are heard.”

Ms Chowdhury added: “I know that they are keen for their views to be listened to and for their voices to be heard in Chichester and I am keen to be able to do that on their behalf.”

Mr Turley said they would ‘do our utmost to deliver for the people of Worthing’, while Ms Baxter added: “I thank the residents for putting their trust in me and I promise to take your voice to the Council and to do all I can to get the improvements to services I know you want to see.”

FULL RESULTS:

Broadwater: John Apsey (Lib Dem) - 215, Richard Batson (Green) - 309, Dawn Smith (Labour) - 1631 - ELECTED, Bryan Turner (Conservative) - 1410.

Cissbury: Ibsha Choudhury (Labour) - 550, Mick Clark (For Britain) - 38, Julie Dawe (Green) - 347, Iona Harte (Lib Dem) - 323, Elizabeth Sparkes (Conservative) - 2320.

Durrington and Salvington: Noel Atkins (Conservative) - 1736 - ELECTED, James Darrall (Green) - 255, Emma Norton (Lib Dem) - 449, Helen Silman (Labour) - 648.

Goring: Jim Deen (Labour) - 784, Trevor Hopkins (Green) - 440, Robin Rogers (Lib Dem) - 214, Steve Waight (Conservative) - 1949 - ELECTED.

Northbrook: Ingrid Allan (Labour) - 930, Sean McDonald (Conservative) - 1507 - ELECTED, Joe Pearce (Green) - 256, Nick Wiltshire (Lib Dem) - 342.

Tarring: Stephen Carleysmith (Green) - 301, Henna Chowdhury (Labour) - 1221 - ELECTED, Edward Crouch (Conservative) - 1193, Marco Di Paola (Libertarian) - 78, Hazel Thorpe (Lib Dem) - 1114.

Worthing East: Caroline Baxter (Labour) - 1669 - ELECTED, Alex Harman (Conservative) - 1154, Yvonne Leonard (Lib Dem) - 217 , Joanne Paul (Green) - 392.

Worthing Pier: Christine Brown (Lib Dem) - 236, Michael Cloake (Conservative) - 1185, Ian Davey (Green) - 558, John Turley (Labour) - 1276 - ELECTED.

Worthing West: Rebecca Cooper (Labour) - 1824 -ELECTED, Jacqueline Cranefield (Lib Dem) - 171, Paul High (Conservative) - 1540, Sonya Mallin (Green) - 285, Christopher Woodward (Independent) - 114.