Lewes District Council provides
district-level services.
County-level services are provided by
East Sussex County Council. The whole district is also covered by
civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park,
town planning is the responsibility of the
South Downs National Park Authority. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.
Political control The council has been under
no overall control since 2018. Since the
2023 election an alliance of the
Greens and
Labour has formed the council's administration. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:
Leadership The
leaders of the council since 1999 have been:
Composition Following the
2023 election, and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. The wards, with their populations at the 2021 Census, are: The district straddles the constituencies of
Lewes and
Brighton Kemptown. When created in 1974 the council inherited four sets of offices from its predecessor councils: • Lewes House, 32 High Street, Lewes from Chailey Rural District Council. •
Lewes Town Hall and the adjoining municipal offices at 4 Fisher Street from Lewes Town Council. • 20 Fort Road, Newhaven from Newhaven Urban District Council. • The Downs, Sutton Road, Seaford from Seaford Urban District Council. The Downs was converted into housing and a leisure centre built behind it. The new council's offices were divided between the other three buildings. In 1998 the council acquired Southover House on Southover Road in Lewes, which had previously been offices of East Sussex County Council, to serve as its main offices, remaining there until 2023 when it moved to Marine Workshops. ==Geography==