This election was originally scheduled to take place on 7 May 2020, but was delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic;[1] 2021 was originally scheduled to be an off-year for Worthing Borough Council elections.

The Conservative Party was seeking to maintain its majority, which it had held in the town since 2004.

In the 2018 election, the Labour Party emerged as the largest opposition party in Worthing; this election was the first since the incorporation of the borough council in 1974 in which it was technically possible for Labour to win a majority.

The Liberal Democrats held on to their seat in Tarring Ward.

With a Conservative councillor then becoming an independent and a loss in a by-election, it would become a minority administration before the 2022 elections.