Lib Dem Sussex targets stay Tory

Shadow Defence Secretary Nicholas Soames held on to Mid Sussex

Two Sussex seats that were high on the Liberal Democrats' target list have been held by the Conservatives.

Shadow Defence Secretary Nicholas Soames has held on to Mid Sussex with a majority of 5,890.

And Nigel Waterson has held on to Eastbourne for the Conservatives with 21,033 votes - a majority of 1,124.

But the Lib Dems' environment spokesman Norman Baker held on to Lewes with 24,376 votes, followed by the Tories with 15,902 and Labour with 4,169.

Postal ballots

Labour's Michael Foster has kept the Hastings and Rye seat with 18,107 votes and a majority of more than 2,000.

Elsewhere in Sussex, the Conservatives held on to Arundel and South Downs.

The Tories have also stayed in control in Bexhill and Battle, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Chichester, Horsham, Worthing East and Shoreham, and Worthing West.

And in Wealden, Charles Hendry held the seat for the Conservatives with 28,975 votes - a majority of 15,921.

Delays were reported in Chichester, West Sussex, where the count took longer than expected after problems with the ways some people had filled in their postal ballots.