Sussex was historically divided into six sub-divisions known as rapes. From the 12th century the practice arose of holding the quarter sessions separately for the three eastern rapes and the three western rapes, with the courts for eastern rapes being held at Lewes.^[5] This position was formalised by the County of Sussex Act 1865, with the eastern and western divisions of Sussex treated as separate counties for the purposes of taxation, law enforcement, asylums and highways, whilst still deemed to be one county for the purposes of lieutenancy, militia and the coroner.^[6]

Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 to take over the administrative business of the quarter sessions. The eastern and western divisions of Sussex therefore became the administrative counties of East Sussex and West Sussex with separate county councils. The two administrative counties were still treated as one county for certain ceremonial purposes, notably sharing the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex and Sheriff of Sussex. The large towns of Brighton and Hastings were deemed capable of providing their own county-level services and so they were made county boroughs, independent from East Sussex County Council.^[7] Eastbourne was later also made a county borough in 1911.^[8]

The first elections were held in January 1889 and East Sussex County Council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1889, holding its first official meeting on the same day at County Hall in Lewes. John Dodson, Lord Monk Bretton, a Liberal peer and former Member of Parliament, was appointed the first chairman of the council.^[9]

Local government was reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, which made East Sussex a non-metropolitan county. As part of the 1974 reforms it ceded the Mid Sussex area (including Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath) to West Sussex, but gained the three former county boroughs of Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. East Sussex and West Sussex also became separate ceremonial counties, with East Sussex gaining its own Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff. The lower tier of local government was rearranged at the same time, with the county being divided into seven non-metropolitan districts.^[10]

In 1997 the two districts of Hove and Brighton were merged to become a unitary authority called Brighton and Hove, independent from the county council, leaving only five districts in the area administered by the county council.^[11] Brighton and Hove (which subsequently gained city status in 2000) remains part of the ceremonial county of East Sussex.^[12]

The council has been under no overall control since a by-election in August 2023, prior to which it had a Conservative majority.^[13][14]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:^[15]

Leadership edit

The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:^[16]

Composition edit

Following the 2021 election and two by-elections in July and August 2023, the composition of the council was:

Two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Democrats" group, the other is not aligned to any group.^[17] The next election is due in 2025.

The council is based at East Sussex County Hall on St Anne's Crescent in Lewes, which was purpose-built for the council in 1968.^[18]

When first created the council met at the old County Hall in Lewes, now known as Lewes Crown Court, which had been built in 1812 as a courthouse and had served as the meeting place for the quarter sessions which preceded the county council.^[19]

The council outgrew the space available there and in 1928 it purchased a large sixteenth century house called Pelham House to use as additional offices.^[20] In 1938 the council extended Pelham House to include a council chamber and committee rooms and also built a large office block called Southover House in the former gardens of Pelham House, with the two neighbouring buildings then serving as the council's main offices and meeting place, and the old County Hall reverting to being purely a judicial facility.^[21]

By the 1960s the council again needed more space and so the current County Hall was built. Southover House was sold to Lewes District Council in 1998.^[22] Full council meetings continued to be held in the council chamber at Pelham House until 2003 when a new council chamber was created in the 1968 County Hall and Pelham House was sold.^[18]

Since the last boundary changes in 2017 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 50 electoral divisions. Elections are held every four years.^[23]

• Lord Rupert Nevill (1954–1967)

• East Sussex County Council – Official website