The four parties running in Thursday’s local elections in Worthing have detailed their plans for the town.
Thirteen of the 37 Worthing Borough Council seats will be contested on Thursday, May 2. Most wards are represented by three seats each on the council, except Northbrook and Durrington which are represented by two.
Broadwater, Castle, Central, Durrington, Gaisford, Goring, Heene, Marine, Northbrook, Offington, Salvington, Selden, and Tarring wards are each electing one councillor in this election. Polls will open from 7am to 10pm on May 2, and people will need photo ID in order to vote.
Labour: Led by Dr Rebecca Cooper (Lab, Marine), Worthing’s Labour group took control of the council in 2022, and currently holds 24 seats on the council – roughly two-thirds. Cllr Cooper said Labour hoped to hold all its current seats up for election in Broadwater, Castle, Central, Heene, Gaisford, Marine and Selden wards, and was looking to gain seats in Durrington and Northbrook wards. She said the party’s main priorities going into the election were focusing on the regeneration of the town through projects at Teville Gate and Union Place, and securing ‘good-quality’ homes to meet housing needs in the borough. She added Montague Gardens would contribute to the administration’s commitment to making Worthing the ‘fairest, greenest coastal town in the UK’. Other commitments from Labour include being a ‘council for the community’, building the town’s economy and creating a stronger culture and leisure presence for the town by making it ‘the new place to be’ in the South East. As well as Cllr Cooper, senior Labour members up for re-election this year include mayor Jon Roser in Selden, cabinet member for resources John Turley in Gaisford, and cabinet member for community wellbeing Rosey Whorlow in Central.
The Conservatives: Worthing’s Conservative group, which, before Labour, had controlled the council since the early 2000s, currently holds 11 seats on the council and is led by Kevin Jenkins (Con, Goring). Cllr Jenkins said the Conservatives were focusing on holding their seats in Durrington and Goring wards after the departures of the incumbent members Dan Coxhill and Steve Waight respectively. He said they were also focused on holding their seats in Salvington, Northbrook and Offington wards. He said council tax had risen double the amount in two years under Labour than it had in ten under the Conservatives, and the council was in a financial ‘mess’. He said the Conservatives would use their ‘proven track record’ of financial management, and by freezing council tax ‘wherever possible’, to fix the finances. The Conservatives six-point plan for the town aims to keep streets and parks ‘clean and tidy’, tackle climate change and carbon neutral targets by 2030, the regeneration of Worthing’s Lido, Pavilion and pier, improve policing, improve pollution levels in seas and rivers, and to ‘secure’ the town’s green spaces.
Greens: The Green party in Worthing currently has one seat on the council, in Goring ward, represented by Claire Hunt who was elected to the council in 2023. The Greens had previously won a Central-ward seat, in 2014, but lost it to Labour in 2018. Cllr Hunt said the Greens were mostly focusing on gaining another seat in Goring this year, stating they were looking to protect Goring’s green spaces, particularly the Goring Gap. She said the Greens’ other commitments included making ‘streets safer for everyone’, and cleaning up Worthing’s seas and beaches. The group’s website states they aim to ‘add that much-needed voice to the council chamber to address the critical issues that the older parties are not even discussing’.
Liberal Democrats: Worthing’s Liberal Democrats have one seat on the council currently, with Hazel Thorpe representing Tarring ward, although the party historically challenged the Conservative control of the council from the 1990s to early 2000s. Cllr Thorpe said she was hoping to hold on to her own seat, which is up for election, stating the Liberal Democrats wanted to increase their overall share of the vote across all wards in order to gain more seats. She said the Liberal Democrats wanted to commit to a ‘fair deal for all’ in Worthing, saying they wanted to see ‘less money wasted’. She said this meant protecting essential public services, safeguarding and ‘improving’ lives, and supporting the town’s built and natural environment. Additionally, they committed to protecting farmland and open spaces, safer roads by fixing potholes and flood drainage, regeneration of high street shops, working with landlords for a ‘No Homes with Mould’ campaign, and reinstating the youth mayor to protect Worthing’s ‘unique heritage’.
