UKIP suffered death by Brexit and have been wiped out in local elections across Sussex.

The party lost all 16 seats it won in East and West four years ago and has just one councillor in the whole country with political rivals claiming the party no longer has a purpose in the wake of last summer’s referendum vote.

Conservatives were the major beneficiaries, bolstering their control of West Sussex County Council and regaining majority control of East Sussex.

The party now has almost three-quarters of the 120 council seats on both county councils despite overseeing huge cuts over the past four years.

The Liberal Democrats become the official opposition on both councils with supporters confident a strong showing will bode well as it tries to reclaim Lewes and Eastbourne parliamentary seats.

Labour lost seats in East and West with the Conservatives drawing level in Hastings in a result Home Secretary Amber Rudd will draw comfort from ahead of June 8.

The Green Party almost achieved the shock of the day in its bid to win its first ever East Sussex County Council seat, coming a very close second to the Liberal Democrats in Lewes and the Conservatives in Forest Row.

East Sussex Conservative group leader Keith Glazier, whose party took more than 45 per cent of the vote, said: “We had a plan and we have delivered. We set out to the public what we were going to achieve and we have gone back to them to prove that we have done that.

“Winning back a majority gives us surety that our plans and our budget can be delivered but it won’t change my leadership if I am returned next week because I have always tried to be inclusive.

“I think locally Ukip has not contributed much but also, because the referendum has been delivered, it has achieved what it set out to do.

”I don’t think local and General elections correlate but our MPs have delivered in the short time they have been in office. People are responding to the fact that Conservatives do deliver.”

East Sussex Lib Dem group leader David Tutt, whose party took 22.8 per cent of the vote, said: “You always hope for a bit more but given what we have seen across the whole country I am very pleased with the Lib Dem performance in East Sussex.

“It is going to be difficult [against a large Conservative majority] but we will do what we believe is right and agree when we think Conservative ideas are sensible but do our very best to oppose cuts to the most vulnerable.

“I think Maria Caulfield has got something to worry about in Lewes and I think people who voted against Stephen Lloyd because they thought we needed a strong Conservative government last time will realise, as there is little doubt Theresa May will return as PM, that they need a strong MP who will fight for the people of Eastbourne.

“I don’t think Ukip really contributed anything over the past four years. It’s a single issue party and that issue has been delivered.”

Retiring Ukip West Sussex councillor Mike Glennon said: “We knew our vote share was going to fall substantially, for the obvious reason that we have had the magnificent victory of forcing the referendum, but for it to fall that far was an unpleasant surprise.

“It doesn’t change much in terms of Ukip game plan. We will, over the next 18 months to two years, hold Theresa May to account to see she ensures Brexit. That is our aim for the short to medium term but the long-term I do not know.

“Unfortunately what we have now with the Tories is an electoral dictatorship and without reform to the political system, smaller parties will not get a look in.”

West Sussex Lib Dem group leader Dr James Walsh said he was delighted with his party’s three unexpected gains in Rustington, Midhurst and Hassocks, which he attributed to “really strong candidates”.

He said: “Ukip has disappeared from Sussex with the Conservatives now taking over the Brexit franchise. Ukip’s only purpose was to bring about Brexit.

“We are back as the official opposition and we will hold the Conservatives to account on their cuts to education, cuts to adult social care and underfunding of the NHS.”

West Sussex Labour group leader Sue Mullins said she was shocked that Conservatives had been able to strengthen their hold in both county elections while overseeing multi-million pound cuts to public services.

She said: “Their constant mantra is strong and steady leadership but that is meaningless without policies that help people.

“West Sussex has a crisis in social care. We are not looking after the elderly and are making them pay more. There is a crisis in education worse than I have ever known in 40 years as a teacher. Everything is being held together by the goodwill of the staff.”

ELECTION RESULTS

EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

Conservatives 30 councillors (+9), Liberal Democrats 11 (+1), Labour 4 (-3), Independent 3 (=), Independent Democrat 2 (=), Ukip 0 (-7)

Eastbourne: 6 Lib Dem, 3 Conservative

Hastings: 4 Labour, 4 Conservative

Lewes: 4 Lib Dem, 4 Conservative, 1 Independent

Rother: 6 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem, 2 Independent

Wealden: 13 Conservative, 2 Independent Democrat

WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

Conservatives 56 councillors (+13), Liberal Democrats 9 (+2), Labour 5 (-1), Ukip 0 (-10), Independent 0 (-3)

Adur: 5 Conservative

Arun: 9 Conservative, 4 Lib Dem

Chichester: 9 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem

Crawley: 5 Labour, 4 Conservative

Horsham: 10 Conservative, 2 Lib Dem

Mid Sussex: 11 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem

Worthing: 8 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem

WHAT NOW FOR THE GATECRASHERS?

How quickly the fortunes of political parties rise and fall.

Four years ago, Ukip was the toast of the town after coming from nowhere to win 16 seats on both East and West Sussex county councils catapulting it to the official opposition at County Hall, Chichester.

On the national scene it has reshaped the future of this country and political dialogue, causing headaches for both Conservatives and Labour.

But as forcefully as it arrived on the political scene of both the country and the county, it is gone again.

All those gains from four years ago wiped out over five painful hours yesterday leaving the party with some serious soul searching to do about where it goes from here.

Rival parties are confident that the General Election will deliver the final blow to Ukip.

Can the party possibly recover from here?

Parties have suffered electoral devastation before and recovered and maybe Ukip can take heart from the Liberal Democrats which after the humbling of 2015 seems to be on the rise again.

All the voters who turned out four years ago for Ukip have seemingly returned to the Conservatives.

Thanks for the referendum and good night, seems to be the electors’ verdict.

What now can rally a party that was defined by a single issue, and by a single personality in Nigel Farage, which is seemingly in disarray?

Its attempts so far to turn attention to Islam has thankfully so far failed to gain any traction.

Where Ukip stumbles, the Conservatives benefit. The party that once had David Cameron so spooked he gambled the country’s future to outmanoeuvre it, is now handing over supporters in the thousands.

The Tories have seriously strengthened their hands at both County Halls and it is hard to see how a similar result will not be repeated at the general election in a month’s time.

It is foolish to think that you can just expect local election results tol be repeated at the General Election; the turnout will be much higher and the Conservatives tend to be able to get their supporters out whatever the weather or occasion.

Strong showings in Crawley and in particular Hastings, seem to shut off Labour hopes of shock victories there.

Only Lewes and Eastbourne seemingly offer any opposition party a chance of a seat in Sussex outside of Brighton and Hove, though the Lib Dems had to contend with holding off Conservative challenges rather than making the significant gains it would have like to unsettle the incumbent MPs.

In a bruising day nationally for Labour, some thought they saw a ray of hope for the party in the East Sussex divisions of Telscombe and Peacehaven, both of which form part of Simon Kirby’s Brighton Kemptown constituency.

Though they predictably returned Tory councillors, keen observers will notice the Labour share of the vote was dramatically improved on the party’s showing in comparable districts four years ago.

In Telscombe the Tories won with a 55 per cent share, but the Labour candidate managed 25 per cent.

Four years ago, that was nine per cent.

In Peacehaven, Labour managed to pull in half as many votes as the Conservative winner – 720 versus 1,446.

All the raw data from the local elections will now be pored over by campaign organisers but if 2016 taught us anything, it is to expect the unpredicted when the country goes to the polls next month.