It is three weeks until the General Election and announcements have been made about Political Party Candidates standing across Sussex. Two locations in particular will require a new MP due to MP’s retiring in Brighton Pavilion and in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.

Brighton Pavilion was created as a political ward in 1950 with Conservative William Teeling until 1966 followed by Julian Amery until 1987 and Derek Spencer until 1992. David Lepper first tried to become a Labour MP for Brighton Pavilion in 1992 but he was not successful. He was the mayor of Brighton and Hove Council between 1993- 94 and in 1997 a General Election year he did become the Labour MP in Brighton Pavilion remaining until 2005. He stood down from politics in 2006 and the Labour Party proposed Nancy Platt for the 2010 concurrent General and Local elections. It was in 2008 that Caroline Lucas became the first leader of the Green Party.  She was selected to represent the constituency of Brighton Pavilion as the Green Party candidate in the 2010 elections and gained a seat in Parliament becoming the first Green MP. Caroline is retiring this year. The new Green Party candidate for Brighton Pavilion is Sian Berry also for this area a new Labour Party candidate, Tom Gray.

Brighton Kemptown was also established in 1950 with a Conservative led MP Howard Johnson who remained for nine years and then David James led until to 1964. Dennis Hobden from the Labour Party was elected and led until 1970 when Conservative Andrew Bowden was elected. Andrew remained until 1997 when Des Turner a labour MP was elected. Des remained until to 2010 when Simon Kirby a Conservative MP was elected and in 2017.  Lloyd Russell-Moyle a Labour and Co-operative Party politician was elected for Brighton Kemptown until recently. The new candidate standing for Labour in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven is Chris Ward. The Conservative Party has also endorsed a candidate, Khobi Anne Vallis, who will stand for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. She previously stood as a Conservative Unionist Party Candidate in Broadbridge Heath and Horsham in their local elections in 2023. She had a vote count of 322 but at these elections James John Brookes from the Liberal Democrats was elected with a vote count of 579.

There are three MP’s that are retiring in West Sussex.

Crawley was formed as a political ward just over 40 years ago which was represented in Parliament by the conservative MP Nicholas Soames until 1997. Laura Moffat a Labour MP ran against Nicolas Soames in the 1997 elections winning the seat. She was re-elected three times running against Henry Smith and held her position until 2010. Henry ran in the 2010 elections and won the seat for Crawley but he is retiring this year. Peter Lamb a Labour MP is running for the ward in Northgate and West Green having previously tried running against Henry Smith in 2019. The Conservative candidate proposed for this area is Zack Ali who states on his website ‘I care deeply about looking after our communities and leaving the world a better place for future generations’.

East Worthing and Shoreham was created back in 1997 and the only MP has been Tim Loughton the local Conservative MP for that area. During different election periods the Labour Party candidates were in second position on most occasions but on two occasions the Liberal Democrats came second. The Conservative candidate who is now trying for the ward is Leila Williams. Leila states “I am delighted to have been selected as the Conservative party candidate for the area in which I have lived and worked for many years”. She has previously been a member of Adur District council and is currently a deputy divisional director of operations for University Sussex Hospitals NHS foundation. The Labour Party candidate for this election in this ward is Tom Rutland who states “I want to be your Labour MP, so that we can deliver the kind of change East Worthing and Shoreham needs from Westminster.” The Liberal Democrat candidate is David Batchelor who works in the hospitality and healthcare sector supporting the provision of inclusive workplaces for people with medical and physical challenges.

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton was established in 1997 and has been led by Conservatives from then until now. Nick Gibb who has been the local Conservative MP for nearly 30 years and is now retiring. His colleague Alison Griffiths will stand this year. The Labour Party has held second position five times in seven elections now proposes Clare Walsh.  

One MP is retiring in East Sussex.

The ward Bexhill & Battle was established in 1983 and it was controlled by Conservatives during that time with Huw Merriman being the only Conservative MP since 2015.  Huw stood down as a government minister in May of this year and is now standing down as an MP for this ward. The other previous Conservative MPs were Charles Wardle and Gregory Barker.  The proposed new Conservative Candidate is Kieran Mullan an MP for Crewe and Nantwich, Cheshire since 2019. Previously he tried to win the area of Wolverhampton South East in 2017 and Birmingham Hodge Hill in 2015. The Labour candidate for Bexhill and Battle is Christine Bayliss who tried for election in 2017 and 2019. She states “I am a local business owner, a former Sussex Police Officer and hard-working Rother District Councillor.”