Newly elected MPs begin work at Westminster

Of the 17 MPs in Sussex, 12 have never sat in Parliament before

New MPs elected to serve constituencies in Sussex are heading in to Westminster for their first day in their new role.

The general election saw 335 Members of Parliament elected for the first time, with the House of Commons sitting again on Tuesday.

In Sussex, 12 of the 17 elected have never sat in Parliament before, as the Conservatives lost seats across the county, mirroring the national picture.

New Worthing West MP, Beccy Cooper, said: "It feels absolutely amazing and surreal at the same time."

Mims Davies said she would "stand up" for everyone

The Tories held onto just four of their 13 seats – but were victorious in the new constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield.

MP Mims Davies said: "I’m so proud and honoured to be the MP for our new constituency of East Grinstead, Uckfield and the villages.

"To my friends, supporters, and the voters, those with Conservative values and those with other values - I will stand up for all of you."

Beccy Cooper described the campaign as 'very busy' and 'very fast-paced'

In Worthing West, the Conservatives' Sir Peter Bottomley was beaten by Ms Cooper after being a Tory MP for 49 years - which made him the longest standing MP in the house of commons.

Ms Cooper said: "It’s been a very busy, very fast-paced campaign so I think probably there’s a bit of tiredness there.

"But what an absolute privilege to be able to do this, to be able to represent my constituents of Worthing West."

As expected, Labour also won Crawley and Hastings & Rye – and they held their two seats in Brighton and Hove.

In Chichester, the local MP had been a Conservative for a century until the early hours of Friday morning as the Liberal Democrat's Jess Brown-Fuller was elected ahead of Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

The Conservatives had also represented Horsham for 144 years before the Liberal Democrat's John Milne was elected.

Labour also took both Worthing seats – even though they had never won in the town before.

Josh Babarinde said he was 'honoured' to be Eastbourne's new MP

The Liberal Democrats enjoyed a jump from no Sussex MPs to five - all gained from the Conservatives.

New Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde said: "I am honoured to be elected to represent my home town, the town that made me ‘me’ and I’ve wasted no time in getting to work."

He added that he wanted to use his new role to "get stuff done" for the town.

While the Green Party successfully defended Brighton Pavillion, Siân Berry is a new MP

The Greens also successfully defended their territory in Brighton Pavilion.

Siân Berry, who is the new MP for the constituency, said she was “raring to go”.

“I’ve started a new job lots of times before, but this is definitely the most exciting one," she said.

"There’s a lot to do, and a lot of admin to do in the next few days – but that won’t stop us from commenting on all the announcements from Labour and making sure we’re making everyone’s voices heard who voted for us.”