Tories elected unopposed in East Grinstead district council seats

With Mid Sussex Labour essentially saying they didn’t field any candidates because they knew they wouldn’t win, there will be no surprises for residents in the East Grinstead wards of Imberhorne and Herontye.

Their councillors will be Adam Peacock and Dick Sweatman for Herontye, and Heidi Brunsdon and Rex Whittaker for Imberhorne.

Tess Fensterheim, East Grinstead Labour branch secretary, who is standing in the Town ward, said: “East Grinstead has until now been a Conservative voting area, though in the past some Liberals were elected – many of whom then switched to Conservative.

“For this reason, rather than field candidates in every ward, we are concentrating our resources on two wards where we feel we have good chances of success.”

Roger Cartwright, chairman of the Mid Sussex Liberal Democrats said that, while the group would have liked to contest all seats in Mid Sussex, it had ‘limited financial resources’.

He added: “While our membership numbers are at a higher level than during the recent five years it has proved very difficult to persuade more people to take an active role in local politics.

“This extends from delivering, to political activism, through to having a good supply of members willing to stand as candidates, even in the seats where they are most unlikely to win.”

Mr Cartwright added: “We hope and wish that the voters and community in Mid Sussex will understand our position. We would like to apologise for not being able to offer them the opportunity to vote Lib Dem. ”