For many years, Lewes was dominated by the Conservatives at local level. In 1991, however, the Liberal Democrats won the District Council for the first time, and the constituency returned a Liberal Democrat MP for the first time in 1997. The Conservatives won back control of the District Council in 2011, and strengthened this position in 2015. The elections in May 2019 made the Conservatives the largest party but without overall control of the Council. A Co-operative Alliance of Greens, Liberal Democrats, Labour and Independents succeeded in ousting the Conservative Leader in July 2019 and electing the first Green Leader of the Council, Zoe Nicholson who appointed a Cabinet of Co-operative Alliance Members. The Chair of the Council is Stephen Gauntlett, Liberal Democrat.