Rother District Council is the local authority for Rother District in East Sussex, England. The council is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 38 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors.[1]
Summary of the council composition after recent council elections, click on the year for full details of each election. Boundary changes took place for the 2003 election reducing the number of seats by 7.[2]
| Year | Conservative | Independent | Liberal Democrats | Labour | Green | Rother Association of Independent Councillors | Vacant | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991[4] | 20 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1995[5] | 14 | 5 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same[6] | |
| 1999[7] | 28 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003[8] | 23 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | New ward boundaries[9] | |
| 2007[10] | 28 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011[11] | 27 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015[12] | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019[13] | 14 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries[14] | |
| 2023 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 0 | ||
By-elections occur when seats become vacant between council elections. Below is a summary of recent by-elections;[15] full by-election results can be found by clicking on the by-election name.
| By-election | Date | Incumbent party | Winning party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexhill Central | 19 September 1996 | ||||
| Beckley and Peasmarsh | 27 February 1997 | ||||
| Central | 25 September 1997 | ||||
| Bexhill Central by-election | 7 June 2001 | ||||
| Bexhill St Mark's by-election | 7 June 2001 | ||||
| Fairlight by-election | 1 November 2001 | ||||
| Old Town by-election | 17 October 2002 | ||||
| Bexhill Sackville by-election | 9 September 2004 | ||||
| Bexhill St Stephens by-election | 29 September 2005 | ||||
| Ticehurst and Etchingham by-election | 17 November 2005 | ||||
| Bexhill Kewhurst by-election | 4 May 2006 | ||||
| Bexhill Sackville by-election | 4 May 2006 | ||||
| Bexhill St Marks by-election | 4 May 2006 | ||||
| Bexhill Collington by-election | 12 June 2008 | ||||
| Bexhill Sackville by-election | 3 July 2008 | ||||
| Darwell by-election | 31 July 2014 | ||||
| Battle Town by-election | 16 July 2015 | ||||
| Collington by-election | 27 October 2016 | ||||
| Darwell by-election | |||||
| St Marks by-election | 10 January 2019 | ||||
| Eastern Rother by-election | 6 May 2021 | ||||