Next May, there will be an election across the whole of Sussex, for a new post of Mayor of Sussex. Not to be confused with a ceremonial town mayor who attends local events like we have in Crawley, this is an executive position with significant powers.
Everywhere in England will be covered by a directly elected mayor by 2028 at the latest. In this latest and final wave of new mayors in England, Sussex is in the first tranche.
The mayor will have wide strategic responsibilities for transport, housing, economy and skills, public health, and the environment. They will also take over responsibility for policing from the Police and Crime Commissioner (a role that will be abolished), and for fire & rescue, that will be removed from County Council responsibility. Crucially, our Sussex Mayor will have opportunities to champion bringing investment into Sussex and to represent our county nationally and internationally.
I view it as vital that we have both experience and energy to carry out this role effectively. While I suspect that one party that isn’t run in a democratic way, will have a candidate imposed on their Sussex members by their party leadership, we Conservatives had an all-member ballot in Sussex and selected Katy Bourne as our candidate. Katy brings that vital combination of experience and energy as a candidate, and has a strong proven record as our Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.
On Saturday, I was pleased to attend a very successful launch of Katy Bourne’s campaign in Haywards Heath, which is close to the geographical centre of Sussex. Katy’s priorities if elected will be safer streets with more police and faster responses, better roads and railways, smarter investment including seeking to make Sussex a leader in tech, good homes with proper infrastructure, more opportunities for young people locally, tackling health inequalities, and strong protection for our countryside and wildlife.
If you would like to know more, Katy has a website at Katybourne.com, a Facebook page @KatyBourneforSussexMayor and an X (Twitter) account @KatyBourne. I’m looking forward to her campaign coming to Crawley and being part of it.
Councillor Duncan Crow, :Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
24th September 2025
