| Election Name: | 2024 Hastings Borough Council election |
| Country: | East Sussex |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2022 Hastings Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2022 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Hastings Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Seats For Election: | 16 out of 32 seats to Hastings Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 17 |
| Leader1: | Julia Hilton |
| Party1: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election1: | 5 seats, 23.5% |
| Seats Before1: | 4 |
| Seats1: | 9 |
| Seats After1: | 12 |
| Seat Change1: | 8 |
| Popular Vote1: | 9,013 |
| Percentage1: | 37.7% |
| Swing1: | 14.2% |
| Leader2: | Heather Bishop[1] |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 15 seats, 42.1% |
| Seats Before2: | 6 |
| Seats2: | 5 |
| Seats After2: | 8 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 7,724 |
| Percentage2: | 32.4% |
| Swing2: | 9.7% |
| Leader3: | n/a |
| Party3: | Independent politician |
| Last Election3: | 0 seats, 0.0% |
| Seats Before3: | 11 |
| Seats3: | 0 |
| Seats After3: | 7 |
| Seat Change3: | 4 |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,765 |
| Percentage3: | 7.4% |
| Swing3: | N/A |
| Leader4: | Andy Patmore[2] |
| Party4: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election4: | 12 seats, 29.6% |
| Seats Before4: | 10 |
| Seats4: | 2 |
| Seats After4: | 5 |
| Seat Change4: | 5 |
| Popular Vote4: | 4,550 |
| Percentage4: | 19.1% |
| Swing4: | 10.5% |
| Party5: | Reform UK |
| Last Election5: | 0 seats, 0.0% |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seats After5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 345 |
| Percentage5: | 1.4% |
| Swing5: | N/A |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Election: | Julia Hilton Green |
| Before Party: | No overall control |
| After Election: | Julia Hilton Green |
| After Party: | No overall control |
The 2024 Hastings Borough Council election was held on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom being held on the same day. Half of the 32 members of Hastings Borough Council in East Sussex were elected. The council remained under no overall control, but the Green Party made significant gains in their number of seats, becoming the largest party on the council. The Conservatives performed poorly, losing a third of their 2023 share of the vote and half their seats. Reform UK also lost their only seat, which they had gained in May 2023 following a Conservative Councillor switching parties.[3] The Labour group leader, Heather Bishop, lost her seat.[4]
Prior to the election, the council was being run by a minority coalition of the Green Party and the subset of the independent councillors known as the 'Hastings Independent Group'.[5] Following the election a Green minority administration formed instead.[6]
Hasting historically been controlled by all 3 major parties. The Conservatives first won a majority in 1976, but lost the council to no overall control in 1980.[7] The Liberal Democrats won control in 1996, with the Conservatives having lost all their seats on the council the previous year. The Labour Party won control of the council 2 years later, and held a majority until 2002, with the Conservatives retaking the council in 2006. Labour gained the council in 2010,[8] and controlled the council until 2022.[9]
In 2022, Labour won 9 seats (down 3) with 42.1% of the vote, the Conservatives won 4 with 29.6%, and the Green Party won 3 (up 3) with 23.5%. Following this election, Labour formed a majority coalition with the Green Party, but later formed a minority administration after the Greens withdrew from the coalition.[10] Labour lost their position as the largest group on the council in December 2023, after the resignation of 8 councillors from Labour and the suspension of another.[11] A minority coalition of the Green Party and the 8 who left Labour was then formed, with a Green Party leader.
The seats up for election in 2024 were last contested in 2021; because of the delay of all local elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seats are up for election after 3 years rather than the usual 4. In that election, the Conservatives won 8 seats (up 4) with 40.7% of the vote, Labour won 7 (down 5) with 37.6%, and the Green party won 1 (up 1) with 16.3%
| After 2022 election | Before 2024 election[12] | After 2024 election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | Party | Seats | |||
| 0 | 11 | 7 | ||||||
| 12 | 10 | 5 | ||||||
| 15 | 6 | 8 | ||||||
| 5 | 4 | 12 | ||||||
| 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
An asterisk (*) indicates an incumbent councillor.