But the Conservatives have taken the opportunity provided by local government reorganisation to call for a cancellation. We therefore face a further 3 years of the same old tired administration. This means years more inaction over the escalating SEND crisis and further missteps in WSCC’s bungled IT upgrade. Costs have ballooned to £40m instead of the £2.6m it was originally budgeted for.
This administration won’t need to listen to residents, because their councillors never need to face an election again. This is not a good situation. What West Sussex needs is new blood ready to tackle challenges with energy, but instead, councillors will be under pressure from their party not to resign for fear of losing the resulting by-election.
Elsewhere around the country it was another celebration day for the Lib Dems in the elections. All together we won 370 seats, which was at the top end of expectations and an increase of 163 from last time round. We took outright control over Oxfordshire, Shropshire and Cambridgeshire Councils and will join coalitions to run many more.
But the main headlines were of course grabbed by Reform. They promise to take a Trump-style axe to alleged waste in the councils they now control. This looks like a tough ask. There is certainly waste to be found at the Westminster level and plenty of it. But local government is another matter.
For most councils, spending power has already been cut in half between 2011 and 2021. Most of their budget is ringfenced for adult social care and education, which means it can’t be touched. Therefore, any cuts would have to fall disproportionately on the remaining unprotected services, such as Highways. Which is precisely why we already have so many potholes in our roads.
I congratulate all the winners, and I wish all councillors of every party the best in their battle to provide the quality of service their communities need. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed my 5 years in local government and I have the greatest respect for anyone ready to take up the challenge.