Control Of Mid Sussex District Council Now On A Knife-Edge As Lib Dem Councillor Quits The Party

Control of Mid Sussex District Council is now on a knife edge following the resignation of Cllr Janice Henwood who has quit the Liberal Democrats and will now sit as an independent.



In 2023, the Liberal Democrats won 20 of the 48 seats on MSDC and linked up with four Independent councillors from the north of the district to ensure they had 50% of the seats and the chairman's casting vote.

That mathmatical advantage however, has now been taken away. Even closer still is that the Liberal Democrats are now on 19 seats, just one more than the Conservatives' 18. Rounding out the council are 4 Green councillors, 1 Labour and 6 Independents (4 in a group and 2 Independent Burgess Hill Councillors)


Cllr Janice Henwood - Burgess Hill Franklands Ward, Independent Councillor.

With the budget meeting only a few months away, the Liberal Democrat administration may struggle to get it over the line without the cooperation from the other parties this time around.

Among the 19 Liberal Democrat councillors is Mid Sussex MP Alison Bennett who has kept her seat on the council when other victorious MPs across the country resigned as councillors to focus on their parliamentary responsibilities. If Cllr Bennett were to resign this term, it would see Hurstpierpoint become a massive by-election battleground where a Lib Dem loss to any other candidate would have huge consequences.