This week is significant for everyone who is able to participate in Thursdays General Election. The estimated population of the UK is 67,960,000 million. Those registered to vote is given as 48,844,920. Reliable data sources state it is not possible to be completely accurate about the figures but the numbers indicate the importance of responsibility.

We will vote for our local MP’s that we want to represent us in Parliament and our MP’s will either join with their parties’ viewpoints or challenge the Government for potentially the next five years. This year is the first opportunity for the whole of Sussex to vote for 17 MP’s. Inevitably some voters will be disappointed with the outcome of their votes if an MP of their choice is not elected. Based on the past voting patterns from the last Election it is likely that a number of Sussex MPs will hold their seat in Parliament however it is also likely that the significant Conservative dominance in 2019 and in previous years is now about to change in this election. There are real possibilities for one or more Liberal Democrat MPs more Labour MPs and Green candidates for a Green MP in Sussex depending on how voters are able to show their support.

One radical decision that could be made by the new Government over the next few years would be to allow a fairer representation of the total votes cast by the public in the voting system. This would enable an alternative Political Party to be represented across the locality despite the majority vote. There are clearly some areas in Sussex that potentially want more than a one-Party MP based on the votes in the residential wards.

Some examples to consider that reflect this possibility come from back in the last General Election of 2019 and took place here in Sussex. In East Sussex there are currently five MP’s all of which are Conservatives however Huw Merriman, MP for Bexhill and Battle who is 51 in July is retiring. Kieran Mullan, who has been the MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 2019 to 2024 has been put forward to replace Huw. In 2019 the Conservatives received a total of 154,748 votes which placed the five Conservative MPs, but there were three ‘second place’ responses from Liberal Democrats and two ‘second place’ responses for Labour.  Based onthese five locations in the East Sussex region covering Bexhill and Battle, Wealden, Hastings and Rye, Eastbourne and Lewes overall there were a total of 284,259 votes meaning 54% Conservative votes, 24% Liberal Democrats and 18% Labour votes. Therefore, 46% of the votes was non – conservative and 42% were focused on Liberal and Labour. These figures could indicate alternative voting decisions are welcomed in East Sussex but sadly the electoral system does not allow for an alternative MP to represent another Political viewpoint.

In 2019 West Sussex had eight Conservative MPs who obtained 56% of the total votes. Labour had eight Candidates and 23% of the votes and the Liberal Democrats had eight candidates and 17% of the votes. It would clearly be very good if the 40% had at least one other alternative representative for the regions. The differences in Brighton and Hove have not been as marked as the two parts of Sussex but they are significant. There have been two Labour MPs over a number of years. Peter Kyle for Hove is standing in this Election. Lloyd Russel Moyle represented Brighton Kemptown and Chris Ward will do so this year. In 2019 the Labour MPs claimed 104,924 votes representing 55%. The Conservative votes totalled 57,909 with a 31% representation of the vote. Brighton Pavilion had the first Green MP which I am very pleased about achieving 33,151 votes and 57% of the total vote. However, in Brighton Pavilion Labour obtained 27% of the vote.

Another example comes from Liverpool in Merseyside, which is represented by fifteen areas. One of them is Southport at the North end and has a Conservative MP. The other fourteen locations have Labour MPs. In seven of these fourteen locations the Conservatives had a bigger percentage of the vote but Labour held the majority. The Labour MPs in Liverpool gained 444,604 votes and the Conservative had 120,517. A total of 662,419 votes were cast with Labour taking 67% votes and the Conservatives 18% which is in fact the opposite of what happened in East and West Sussex. However, this example presents another similar case for there to be an alternative MP to allow voters greater access to an MP of their choice.

Here in Sussex, there are a reasonable number of people that vote Labour and Liberal Democrat in the East and West of the county and here in Brighton and Hove there could be a way for Conservative support to be represented. Clearly across Sussex the greater number of votes cast are for Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green but looking back over a number of years in East and West Sussex there have been a considerable number of other MPs from UKIP, SNP and a Green MP. In the case of Brighton and Hove there have been more Liberal Democrat, Green, UKIP and some SDP.

These considerations could be a focus for the next Government if our local MPs felt able to raise the idea of a fairer representation approach to the new Prime Minister. I hope so.