Last week’s local election results were a very dark day for Crawley and West Sussex on many levels. The trend to political extremes and the grim path this is taking us on locally and nationally, is something that should concern us all. The risks of damage to local government have also significantly increased.
In many cases, what we saw was not voting decisions made on who one wants to run council services and represent them locally, but a national protest vote on national and global issues that local authorities and local councillors have no sway over. I get people’s frustrations and understand that local elections are an opportunity to make oneself heard in our democracy, but the downside this time is there are going to be negative consequences and repercussions for us all locally.
The grim metaphor that comes to mind is that last week, Crawley and West Sussex committed an act of self-harm by electing many new councillors for Reform. Sadly, I can assure you that this will not end well. Where it ends will be up to the voters in future elections, but the huge risk is that it won’t end before a Trump-like government comes to power that makes our country a very ugly and dangerous place indeed, causing permanent damage in the process.
During the local election campaign, we warned of the risks of losing an experienced and strongly performing Conservative Administration at West Sussex County Council - replacing it with an inexperienced coalition of chaos. Sadly, that is exactly what happened with it looking very difficult for any credible administration to be formed. Of the 70 county councillors elected last week, only a handful have any experience at all. With local government reorganisation about to happen, the risks are serious and significant.
I’m proud of our record at West Sussex County Council and Crawley members were at the heart of it. Crawley is now going to be very poorly represented indeed. The appalling online election tactics that encouraged abuse towards Conservative and Labour candidates has won this time, with it being Crawley that has lost.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
13th May 2024
