Negotiations continue over future administration at Lewes District Council as Labour nationally vetoes arrangements

Negotiations have been underway since the results of this month’s local elections — with 17 Greens, 15 Lib Dems and nine Labour councillors elected — saw the council remain in no overall control for a second term running.

Although these negotiations have mostly taken place outside of the public eye, Green Party councillors shed some light on the progress with a public statement issued on Wednesday evening (May 17).

In it, the Greens say an agreement had nearly been reached for a three-way power-sharing arrangement, but that this arrangement had fallen at the final hurdle following a decision by the national Labour Party.

The Green Party statement reads: “As the largest party, Greens have been leading negotiations with both the Liberal Democrats and Labour, inviting them to work with us to form an administration. We believe that we can once again create a co-operative alliance that works for the best interests of the whole district.

“In the past 10 days, all parties had reached agreement on a new way of working, however we have now had confirmation that the national Labour Party have informed our local Labour colleagues that they currently do not have their approval to take part in a cooperative alliance together with ourselves and the Liberal Democrats, despite the success of the previous alliance.

“It is incredibly disappointing. In the meantime exactly the same arrangements which were on the table yesterday are still on the table today for power sharing with the Liberal Democrats, who are the second largest group.