The delay of the East Sussex County Council elections in May 2025 shocked residents across the county and triggered loud protests from political parties claiming democracy had been denied. Much of the national press framed the decision as a secret deal between Labour and the Conservatives. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey described it as ‘a disgraceful stitch up’. Liberal Democrat Councillor Joe Harris declared that ‘democracy delayed is democracy denied’. Yet a closer look at the events inside County Hall raises an uncomfortable truth that the Liberal Democrats have yet to acknowledge. The decisive moment that allowed the suspension of the 2025 elections to proceed was shaped by the absence of members of their own party.
The key vote took place on the 9th January 2025 when county councillors were asked to continue to support the proposal to accept the Labour Government’s offer to convert East Sussex into a Unitary Authority. This came with an incentive. By opting in, county councillors would avoid elections for up to two years while the reorganisation was carried out. The motion passed by the narrowest possible margin. Just 23 votes to 21. It meant residents would be denied their right to vote in May and the current council would continue without a democratic mandate.
Various motions to protect the election were put forward by the opposition parties. Crucially, these would have allowed the public to decide who should take part in shaping the future of East Sussex. However these were defeated by 23 to 21 votes. The margin came down to attendance. A small number of councillors were not at this key meeting, including three Liberal Democrats.
Had all three been present and voted with their colleagues, the balance of votes could have shifted and would have likely have passed. The decision that changed the direction of local government in East Sussex did not happen because the Lib Dems voted the wrong way. It happened because they were not in the room.
The Liberal Democrats have since staged marches, issued petitions and condemned what they call the denial of democracy. Across Sussex, their MPs have led chants and demanded elections be restored. Horsham MP John Milne called the delay a serious blow to democracy. Mayoral candidate Ben Dempsey warned that councillors may be in office for seven years as a result of not having to face the electorate, a situation that is an insult to democratic principles. Yet none of these high profile attacks acknowledge that it was, in fact, their own councillors who helped hand victory to those who wanted the delay.
While the Liberal Democrats criticisms of the elections delay have been widely reported. What has received less attention is the role played by the Liberal Democrat group’s attendance record on the day. The absence of 25 percent of the Liberal Democrat group during votes of such significance is extraordinary. The decision determined whether the people of East Sussex would have their say or be ruled without consent for two more years. If this was a failure of organisation, it was serious. If it was deliberate, residents deserve answers.
Stephen Hardy MBE, Chair of the Bexhill and Battle Liberal Democrats, wrote on the Liberal Democrats website following the vote, “On Wednesday 5 February, the Conservative-led East Sussex County Council have got their way to deny local people the right to vote to kick them out of office. And monstrously the Labour Government seem to have conspired with the Conservatives to allow them to pull the strings on how the shake-up of local government will happen here. Labour themselves know that they cannot win in East Sussex, so simply do not care about this part of the country.” Mr Hardy goes on, writing “It is shameful that the running-scared Conservative-led East Sussex County Council have succeeded in stopping the elections from taking place in what feels like a desperate attempt to cover up their own abysmal record…”
That Liberal Democrats claim to be defenders of democracy is at best fanciful. Their name suggests belief in public choice. Yet in the moment of greatest importance, three Liberal Democrats councillors didn’t attend a key vote. Democracy in East Sussex did not fall because of a conspiracy. The outcome turned on the absence of three Liberal Democrats councillors who were not in the room.
The outcome ensured the continuation of a Conservative-dominated council whose critics say has failed to control finances, protect services or maintain essential infrastructure. It also protected councillors allowances for an extended period. It gave parties facing heavy defeat a stay of execution. Reform UK candidates believe they would have captured seven out of nine divisions in the Bexhill and Battle area alone and that even more gains would follow in a second wave of elections.
What residents now face is uncertainty, rising frustration and a growing belief that trust in local government has been damaged beyond repair.
The question many are now asking is simple. If the Liberal Democrats were capable of stopping the collapse of local democratic accountability, why did they not turn up when it mattered? Residents deserve honesty about what happened in County Hall that day. If those who campaign in the name of democracy wish to be taken seriously, they must first explain why three of their own councillors were absent when democracy needed them most.
