The May 2021 local elections saw the Green Party win seats for the first time ever on East Sussex County Council. Four Green Party County Councillors have now taken up their roles across Sussex.
Among them was Wealden’s own Georgia Taylor, who will represent the Forest Row and Groombridge Division. Georgia won with 2,325 votes, a 58% share of the votes. Turnout was markedly up on 2017, which is a tribute to a great campaign and a lot of legwork by a team of volunteers.
Our candidate in neighbouring Wealden East, Cornelie Usborne, ran an incredible campaign coming in as close runner up with 43% of the votes. She turned what is normally a comfortable Conservative area into a nail-bitingly close call, achieving a massive 582% increase in green votes compared to the
last elections in 2017.
The Green Party Councillors on East Sussex County Council are:
- Georgia Taylor of Forest Row and Groombridge Division
- Wendy Maples of Lewes Division
- Johnny Denis of Ringmer and Lewes Bridge Division
- Julia Hilton of Hastings, Old Hastings and Tressell Division
Georgia Wins in Forest Row & Groombridge! 🎉
Wealden Green Party take a moment to celebrate Georgia Taylor's successful campaign running for councillor for Forest Row & Groombridge!
She won with 2325 votes, making up 58% of the votes - 649 more than the competing Conservative candidate. Despite the Tory's gaining an extra 200 votes compared to the 2017 elections, green's managed to gain a huge 1000.
This significant victory marks a huge moment as green party candidates across both the district & country achieved record numbers.
Georgia now looks forward to getting to work as a vital independent voice on a Conservative majority council, ensuring your voice is heard and the environment is not sidelined.
You can see Georgia's full profile here.
A Close Call For Cornelie 💚
Running in the Conservative-dominant area of Wealden East, Cornelie ran an incredible campaign coming in as close runner up with 43% of the votes.
She turned what is normally a comfortable Conservative area into a nail-bitingly close call, acheiving a massive 582% increase in green votes compared to the last elections in 2017.
Her hard work and reward is representative of the Wealden District in general where we have seen a 106% increase in green votes across the district compared to the last elections - there is no question that Wealden is turning greener!
Cornelie thanks all the wonderful volunteers who made this astounding near- victory
possible. She and WGP are continuing to work for residents in Wealden East and are
preparing for the Wealden District Council elections in 2023, hoping to represent residents
in the Horam/Punnetts Town ward. And in 2025 we will fight in the election for the County
Council for Wealden East. Watch this space!
You can see Cornelie's full profile here.
A Big Year For Wealden Green Party 👏
Wealden Green Party would like to thank all of our wonderful candidates and the teams supporting them who stood for the environment, better social standards, safer streets and strong action on our climate among many other key issues.
We're proud to have seen a great surge in green interest across the district, with over a 100% increase in green votes compared to the last elections in 2017, all while the two main parties both saw overall loses.
Now we turn to look at how we can reflect and move forward, building upon our successes and preparing for the future. We hope to warmly welcome new members to our local Green Party.