General Election 2024: Conservatives win East Grinstead and Uckfield in ‘dark night’ for Tories

Mims Davies was elected MP with 19,319 votes.

Mrs Davies previously held the Mid Sussex seat but a recent boundary change saw her campaigning for the newly created East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency instead.

Benedict Dempsey (Liberal Democrats) came in second with 10,839 votes.

The votes for the other candidates were:

Christina Nanna Mary Coleman (Green Party) 5,277.

Ben Sebastian Cox (Labour Party) 10,440.

Ian Gibson (Independent Party) 2,482.

William Jeffrey Highton (English Democrats) 2,036.

Mid Sussex District Council said there 493 rejected ballots.

In her acceptance speech Mims Davies said: “I’m so proud and honoured to be the Member of Parliament for the new constituency.”

She said: “It is truly humbling to take this honour this morning.”

Across the UK Labour won by a landslide in this year’s general election that saw the Conservatives face a historic defeat. Our editor in chief Gary Shipton said there had been a ‘national swing against the Tories’ and said the ‘political earthquake’ had been felt in Sussex. Read his full statement here.

Mrs Davies acknowledged this in her speech, saying: “I will look forward to giving a voice to those who have put that trust in me on the ballot and those who didn’t. Two truly great towns and many magnificent villages and special communities I am truly honoured to represent. On a wider picture it’s been a difficult night. Despite the height of summer, it has been a dark night and a dark morning for the Conservative Party despite some bright spots. But to my friends, supporters and the voters, those with Conservative values and those who have other values, I will stand up for all of you in tough times.”

She told the Middy: “May I thank the voters who put their trust in me to be their voice in Westminster.”

General Election 2024 LIVE

The vote count for both the Mid Sussex and East Grinstead and Uckfield constituencies took place at The Triangle Leisure Centre in Burgess Hill, starting at 10pm on Thursday, July 4.

It was a long night as the results, which were expected to be announced at 3am on Friday, July 5, were eventually announced at about 5.15am. This was partly due to the late arrival of the last postal votes.

Kathryn Hall, chief executive of Mid Sussex District Council and returning officer, said at 10pm as polls closed that there would be a wall in place all night at the sports hall to keep the two constituencies ‘completely separate’.

She told the vote counters: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint, tonight.”

She said: “We’ll do our very best to get through this as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

Mid Sussex District Council said voter turnout was high this year. After verification was complete, it was revealed that the turnout for East Grinstead and Uckfield was 67.5 per cent (50,886 ballot papers issued out of an electorate of 75,385).