Fiona Irving
BBC South East, Hastings & Rye

Image source, BBC/Fiona Irving

There's a buzz of calm industry here at the Hastings & Rye count.

Vote verification is under way, while it looks likely that counting will get under way shortly.

Turnout here was 60.81%, the lowest it has been since 2005.

A couple of candidates are buzzing around. I've spotted Lucian Fernando for Reform and Becca Horn for the Greens. But the Labour and Conservative candidates are yet to turn up.

The seat, which was held by Sally Ann-Hart for the Conservatives, is a top target seat for Labour in the South East, so expect things to heat up here in the coming hours.

Sophia Cobby
BBC Radio Sussex

Image source, BBC/Sophia Cobby

We're waiting for the first results to be declared in Sussex, and the count is under way at Westgate Leisure Centre in Chichester.

The constituency, which is one of the oldest in the country, is currently held by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

According to the exit poll forecast, there is an 85% chance the Tories will hold onto the seat, and a 15% chance the Lib Dems will take it.

Ballot boxes have arrived, the verification process has begun and lots of anxious party members are at the start of a very long night.

BBC Politics

The Labour Party is forecast to win a landslide majority in Parliament, according to an exit poll published as voting ended in the 2024 general election.

Labour is set to take 410 seats, well ahead of the Conservatives on 131, according to the forecast based on the poll carried out by Ipsos for the BBC, ITV News and Sky News.

Thanks to a handy tool created by the BBC team, you can find out what the forecast is for your constituency here.

Will Flockton
BBC Radio Sussex

Image source, Oliver McVeigh/PA Wire

With a Labour landslide predicted by the exit poll for BBC, ITV and Sky, here's some of the key projected results for Sussex.

The Green Party is set to hold onto its Brighton Pavilion seat after the departure of Caroline Lucas, its only MP since 2010.

Crawley, previously held by Conservative MP Henry Smith from 2010, is likely to be gained by Labour.

Meanwhile the Lib Dems look set to take Eastbourne, which was held by Tory MP Caroline Ansell since 2019.

East Worthing and Shoreham is set to be taken by Labour. The seat had been held by Tory MP Tim Loughton, who did not stand in this election, since 2010.

Hastings & Rye, which was previously held by Tory MP Sally-Ann Hart (and before that, former home secretary Amber Rudd) is also likely to be gained by Labour according to the poll.

Lucinda Adam
BBC Sussex, political reporter

The BBC's Lucinda Adam has taken a close look at the Conservative Party's political prospects in Sussex.

As it stands, every constituency in East and West Sussex has been represented by a Conservative MP for the past five years.

Brighton & Hove, having had one Green and two Labour MPs, is an island in a blue wall between the Sussex coastline and the North and South Downs.

But as the Tories defend all 13 parliamentary seats, some predictions have said they could lose eight, or even more of them. That would be a political earthquake.

Read more here.

Some voters in East and West Sussex have found themselves in a different or entirely new parliamentary constituency at this election.

The Boundary Review has redrawn the political map to even out the number of people each MP represents.

It has come into force for the first time during this general election, creating the new seats of Sussex Weald plus East Grinstead and Uckfield.

You can find out what other seats were impacted here.

Image source, UK Parliament

Andrew Griffith, ex-MP for Arundel and South Downs and science minister, has acknowledged it's "going to be a difficult night" for the Conservatives.

"Whilst it was always going to be a challenge, too much of the reason for tonight's result lies with the misconduct of a small minority of MPs and the ill-discipline of the party in general," he said on X, external.

"What we have not seen is any real positive hunger for socialism. It is quite possible Starmer’s vote share is lower than Corbyn’s."

He added that if he is re-elected again, "the hard work to build back begins tomorrow".

Lucinda Adam
BBC Sussex political reporter

Image source, Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

The Conservatives are defending 13 seats, every constituency in East and West Sussex outside Brighton and Hove.

Polling predicts they could lose at least 8 of those seats, perhaps even more.

Labour are targeting Worthing West, East Worthing & Shoreham, Crawley and Hastings & Rye.

The Liberal Democrats have their eyes on Lewes, Eastbourne, Chichester and Horsham.

In Brighton & Hove, Labour are defending two seats and the Greens are trying to hang on to what has been their only parliamentary seat now that Caroline Lucas has stood down.

Charlotte Wright
Political Editor, BBC South East

At the last general election in 2019, the Conservative party returned 51 out of the 55 MPs in Sussex, Surrey and Kent.

Since then, party leaders have changed, there are new priorities and big changes have been made to the political map.

Boundaries have been redrawn and many constituencies will be new or different for millions of people.

Charlotte Wright
Political Editor, BBC South East

Image source, BBC/Sophia Cobby

It’s hard to overstate just how Tory the South East of England has been in recent years.

At the 2019 election, 51 out of the 55 MPs elected in Kent, Sussex and Surrey were Conservative.

All but one seat in Surrey has only elected Conservative MPs for decades (Guildford elected a Lib Dem for one term in 2001).

But in recent years we’ve seen voters turning away from the Tories in the local council elections.

Not a single district or borough council in Sussex or Surrey has a Conservative majority.

While people often vote differently in local elections to general ones, it’s clear the Conservatives don’t have such a tight grip on the region as they once did.

Opposition parties have been targeting a number of South East seats during the course of the campaign.

And if tonight’s exit poll is accurate, it looks like we'll see a more colourful map of the region’s constituencies by the morning.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Here’s a list of estimated declaration times in Sussex (in alphabetical order)…

• Arundel & South Downs: 5.30am
• Bexhill & Battle: 3am
• Bognor Regis & Littlehampton: 4am
• Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven: 3.45am
• Brighton Pavilion: 4.30am
• Chichester: 3.30am
• Crawley: 3am
• Eastbourne: 4am
• East Grinstead & Uckfield: 4am
• East Worthing & Shoreham: 4.30am
• Hastings & Rye: 5am
• Horsham: 5.30am
• Hove & Portslade: 4.45am
• Lewes: 5am
• Mid Sussex: 4am
• Sussex Weald: 2.45am
• West Worthing: 4.30am

Labour is set to win a general election landslide with a majority of 170, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky.

If the forecast is accurate, it means Sir Keir Starmer will become prime minister with 410 Labour MPs – just short of Tony Blair's 1997 total.

The Conservatives are predicted to slump to 131 MPs, their lowest number in post-war history.

The Liberal Democrats are projected to come third with 61 MPs.

The Scottish National Party will see its number of MPs fall to 10 and Reform UK is forecast to get 13 MPs, according to the exit poll.

The Green Party of England and Wales is predicted to double its number of MPs to two and Plaid Cymru are set to get four MPs. Others are forecast to get 19 seats.

The exit poll, overseen by Sir John Curtice and a team of statisticians, is based on data from voters at about 130 polling stations in England, Scotland and Wales. The poll does not cover Northern Ireland.

At the past five general elections, the exit poll has been accurate to within a range of 1.5 and 7.5 seats.

Image source, PA Media

Voting has been taking place throughout the day across the UK in the 2024 General Election.

Join us after 10pm for coverage of all the results and reaction across Sussex.BBC Sussex will have reporters at the counts and you can follow all the election developments as they happen here on the BBC News website and app.You can find out more about how to follow the election on the BBC here.