These are the Sussex councils with elections this week, these are the parties who are standing, and this is when you can vote

Where are elections being held?

A total of 14 seats are being contested at Adur District Council, 12 at Crawley Borough Council, 16 at Hastings Borough Council and 14 at Worthing Borough Council.

Both Adur & Worthing are currently run by Conservative administrations, while Crawley & Hastings are run by Labour.

No party at Worthing currently has a majority at present as over the last five years Labour has eaten into the Conservatives’ majority with both parties neck and neck with 17 seats apiece. Labour would need to take just two seats from the Conservatives and hold their own to take over the council. On the other hand if the Conservatives gain two seats they will have their own majority.

In Adur, the Conservatives’ position is more secure and it needs to hold at least six of its ten seats up for election to retain its majority.

Meanwhile over in Crawley, while Labour controls the administration, the Conservatives actually have more seats (18 to 16 with one independent and one vacancy).

The Conservatives would need to hold all their seats and take at least one from Labour to secure a majority.

Conversely Labour needs a net gain of three seats to win its own majority.

Lastly, over in Hastings Labour currently has the most councillors with 18, the Conservatives have 12 and the Greens have two.

With 32 seats in total, Labour would only have to lose two seats to throw the council into no overall control.

Meanwhile the Conservatives would need to gain five seats to secure a majority.

Where are elections not being held this year?

The next East Sussex County Council and West Sussex County Council elections are in 2025.

The last elections were held in 2021 with the Conservatives securing majorities in both East and West Sussex.

The next district and borough council elections in Arun, Chichester, Eastbourne, Horsham, Lewes, Mid Sussex, Rother and Wealden are due to be held in 2023.

These hold all-out elections every four years, while Adur, Crawley, Hastings and Worthing do not elect all their councillors at the same time.

Who are the parties and candidates standing?

These are the candidates standing over in Hastings.

Meanwhile this is who is standing in Adur and Worthing.

And these are the candidates standing in Crawley.

When can you cast your vote?

Polling stations open at 7am on Thursday (May 5) and close at 10pm.

Results are due to be announced throughout Friday. For full coverage see our website at www.sussexworld.co.uk throughout the day