The Sussex Police & Crime Panel has censured Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne OBE following her participation in an anti-migrant demonstration in Crowborough.
Members voted 10-4 in favour of a motion declaring they had “lost confidence in the commissioner and in the commissioner’s conduct” during Friday’s meeting.
The motion received cross-party backing from Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative representatives on the panel.
Councillors accused Ms Bourne of abandoning impartiality and bringing her office into disrepute by joining the march in November, which opposed government plans to accommodate asylum seekers at a former military site in the East Sussex town.
Ms Bourne, who has held the commissioner role since 2012 and is currently campaigning to become the first Sussex mayor, rejected the panel’s actions.
She described the motion as a “co-ordinated personal attack on my integrity” and declared she was “on trial for doing my job.”
The Conservative PCC expressed her intention to lodge a complaint with the panel’s monitoring officer, characterising the proceedings as harassment.
Before the vote took place, Bourne walked out of the meeting, stating she was disgusted by the motion brought against her.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne OBE was censured for attending a protest in Crowborough
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ASSOCIATION OF POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONERS
A West Sussex County Council spokesman responded that any complaint would be “looked at carefully and responded to appropriately” whilst maintaining that “all processes have been followed correctly.”
The motion was tabled by Lewes Green Party councillor Paul Keene.
It stated: “This panel has lost confidence in the commissioner and in the commissioner’s conduct after her actions in attending a protest march on November 8, 2025 in Crowborough.”
Panel members also questioned Ms Bourne about her previous public statements advocating for asylum seekers to be fitted with electronic tags.
Locals have taken to the streets to protest the placement of migrants in a nearby military camp
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The panel determined that these actions demonstrated a failure to maintain the impartiality expected of her office.
A separate motion concluded that her conduct had “brought the office into disrepute” through this perceived lack of neutrality, per the Daily Mail.
The Crowborough protest in November drew hundreds of demonstrators following the Labour Government’s announcement that up to 500 migrants would be housed at the former military camp.
Last week, 27 asylum seekers became the first residents at the barracks, prompting thousands to gather in what was described as the town’s largest demonstration to date.
Crowborough resident Gaz has told GB News that their lives have been turned ‘upside down’ since migrants were moved into the town’s military camp | GB NEWS
Protesters waved Union Jacks, St George’s Crosses and Sussex flags. Sussex Police arrested three individuals after a vehicle was prevented from leaving the site.
A Crowborough resident has told GB News the lives of the community have been turned “upside down” after migrants were moved into their community.
Demonstration organiser Gaz revealed the migrants in the camp are “already causing alarm” to female locals and are “out on the streets” of the town.
Expressing the concerns and fear among residents about the camp, Gaz told The People’s Channel: “We know the main problem is they shouldn’t be brought in anyway across the shores, and the second problem is they shouldn’t be brought to the towns to be rolled in and rolled out as a detention centre while they’re processed.