Lewes is a local government district in East Sussex, England. The district is named after the town of Lewes, where the council is based, although the largest town is Seaford. The district also includes the towns of Newhaven, Peacehaven and Telscombe and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

The district lies on the south coast, and a large part of it lies within the South Downs National Park. The district covers an area of , with  of coastline. Plumpton Racecourse is within the district. There are 28 parishes in the district.

The neighbouring districts are Brighton and Hove, Mid Sussex and Wealden.

History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:
Chailey Rural District
Lewes Municipal Borough
Newhaven Urban District
Seaford Urban District
The new district was named after Lewes, the ancient county town of Sussex.

Since 2016 the council has shared a chief executive and other staff with nearby Eastbourne Borough Council.

Governance

Lewes District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by East Sussex County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the South Downs National Park Authority. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since 2018. Since the 2023 election an alliance of the Greens and Labour has formed the council's administration.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 41 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The wards, with their populations at the 2021 Census, are:

The district straddles the constituencies of Lewes and Brighton Kemptown.

Premises

Since 2013, full council meetings have been held at County Hall in Lewes, the headquarters of East Sussex County Council.

When created in 1974 the council inherited four sets of offices from its predecessor councils:
Lewes House, 32 High Street, Lewes from Chailey Rural District Council.
Lewes Town Hall and the adjoining municipal offices at 4 Fisher Street from Lewes Town Council.
20 Fort Road, Newhaven from Newhaven Urban District Council.
The Downs, Sutton Road, Seaford from Seaford Urban District Council.

The Downs was converted into housing and a leisure centre built behind it. The new council's offices were divided between the other three buildings. In 1998 the council acquired Southover House on Southover Road in Lewes, which had previously been offices of East Sussex County Council, to serve as its main offices, remaining there until 2022. Since 2022 the council has been using smaller offices at 6 High Street, Lewes and Saxon House on Meeching Road in Newhaven.

Geography
The Prime Meridian passes through the district.

Sussex Police has its head office in the town of Lewes.

Towns and parishes
The whole district is divided into civil parishes. The parish councils for Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford and Telscombe take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.

‡ St John Without, St Ann Without, Tarring Neville and Southease are separate civil parishes with parish meetings, but due to their small size population statistics are not published separately for them.

References

 
Non-metropolitan districts of East Sussex
Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership
1974 establishments in England