Tory leader at Lewes District Council loses his seat

The Tory leader of Lewes District Council has lost his seat, but his party remained the largest party.

Andy Smith was not re-elected for East Saltdean and Telscombe Cliffs.

Going into the election the Tories had 20 of 41 seats. At the end of today they now have 19.

The Green Party was the big winner, increasing its number of councillors from three to nine.

The Lib Dems now have eight councillors, down from nine.

Labour took three seats.

Speaking as the results came in, the former council leader said he was ‘sanguine’ about the result and offered some advice for his successor.

Mr Smith said: “I think the reason why this council has bucked the trend is because it has been working collaboratively across all parties.

“It has set aside a large amount of capital funding for projects which we will deal with over the next four years. It will all be good news for the district and the people who live in it.

“My only hope is that they can get back round the table, start working together and deliver the stuff that is in that Conservative manifesto.”

The full results can be found here.