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.

“We genuinely hope we will continue to work in partnership to conclude the discussions, and put the interests of local people first and foremost, so we can see the new council firmed up as soon as possible.”

Speaking to the LDRS, a Labour spokesman confirmed that the national party had declined to sign off on the formation of a three-way alliance.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr James MacCleary has confirmed that his party wants to renegotiate terms in light of Labour’s decision.

Cllr MacCleary said: “We have been negotiating an agreement to run the council since the election, and it was hugely disappointing that Labour’s central committee vetoed the previous agreement we had. We have put forward a new proposal to the Green Party for power sharing over the next four years.

“We are hopeful that the Green Party will continue with the arrangement that we have successfully run for the last four years on Lewes District Council.

“We believe that the election results showed that residents appreciated our collaborative approach and the shared leadership model that saw Liberal Democrat and Green Party council leaders in alternate years. It is important to show that we will not just slip into narrow tribalism now that there are no Conservatives left on the council.”

He added: “Whether the Green Party are prepared to share power on Lewes District Council or not, we will continue to stand up for our residents across our district.”

For most of the past four years, the positions of leader and deputy leader have rotated annually between the Greens and Lib Dems. A similar arrangement has also just been agreed in Wealden District Council, where the two parties are set to form an alliance.

It is understood that the Green Party no longer want this arrangement to continue in Lewes, while the Lib Dems do, and it is this which is the main stumbling block to the formation of an alliance.

When contacted about this, Green Party group leader Zoe Nicholson said: “We had an agreement with all parties at the weekend that gave very generous and fair arrangements including deputy leadership for the full four years, and additional presence on cabinet for the Liberal Democrats beyond what their vote share would dictate.

"We had all agreed to these arrangements and then we heard the news that our Labour colleagues were not permitted to join in.

“We have gone back to the Liberal Democrats with exactly the same agreement we reached only on Sunday. It is disappointing that they have now changed their mind.

“We hope they will work with us in a collaborative, grown up way of doing politics, and having joined us in the landmark moment of wiping out entirely the Conservatives, that they will embrace the chance to make history twice in one month.”

Time may be running out to reach an agreement, however, as the council is due to hold its annual council meeting on Monday (May 22). As it stands, that meeting will see the election of the council’s leader