The Labour government have decided to cancel the 2025 West Sussex County Council elections and impose a Sussex-wide local authority on West and East Sussex with a new 'Mayor of Sussex'.
Sussex needs a mayor like a fish needs a bicycle.
It is firmly my view that top-down imposed reforms – just like housing numbers - are completely wrong and lack democratic consent.
A new elected Sussex mayor will have to represent 1.5 million residents living in wildly different communities dominated by urban Brighton, Crawley and they will then serve under the Sussex banner.
It will starve many residents in rural West Sussex of the representation at local government which they deserve, and ultimately lead to a focus on the urban areas of the county such as Brighton and Crawley – whilst stealing the voices of residents at the ballot box this May. This decision is democratic larceny.