Sussex Police & Crime Panel passes vote of no confidence in PCC Katy Bourne, who attended anti-migrant rally
The Sussex Police & Crime Panel has passed a vote of no confidence (10-4) in Conservative Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne, following controversy over her attendance at a protest against plans to house asylum seekers in Crowborough.
The motion - tabled by Green Party councillor Paul Keene - stated that the panel had “lost confidence in the commissioner and the commissioner’s conduct” after she joined a march on 8 November 2025 and later publicly called for asylum seekers to be electronically tagged. Panel members said her actions demonstrated a lack of impartiality and had “brought the office into disrepute”.
The vote took place during a meeting on Friday 30 January, where councillors from multiple parties supported the motion. According to reports, the motion passed by a significant margin, with cross‑party backing from Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative representatives.
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Bourne, who is also standing as the Conservative candidate for the newly created Mayor of Sussex role, left the meeting before the vote, later describing the move as a “coordinated personal attack” and “harassment”. She said she was “so disgusted” by the motion and has indicated she will lodge a formal complaint with the monitoring officer.
She insisted her attendance at the march was part of her duty to listen to public concerns, telling the panel that she had been “on trial for doing my job”.
Opposition councillors argued that her involvement in the march risked emboldening far‑right agitators and heightened community tensions around the asylum accommodation site. They said political figures had a responsibility to calm the situation rather than inflame it.
The monitoring officer for the PCC’s office raised concerns over whether the panel had legal authority to discipline Bourne in this way, but local authority representatives maintained that proper processes had been followed.
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