THE Queen’s Speech was our first glimpse of what we can expect from this Conservative majority government.

Depending on your political standpoint, you will no doubt have a view on what Her Majesty put forward.

But party politics aside, there are clear concerns for Sussex.

Much has been made of the additional powers for the so-called northern powerhouses.

And that is all well and good, but what about us down here?

There is a very real risk that we will be missing out.

The Conservatives are strong in the south.

You only have to look at a colour-coded map of MPs – as we featured on the front page of our general election special – to realise this.

Other than in Brighton and Hove, pretty much the whole of the South East is blue.

Where the Tories really need to make gains next time round to secure their majority is up north.

The fear is that David Cameron and his Cabinet friends think all is good down here.

The fear is they get complacent and ignore us, expecting us to vote blue, come what may.

But we need the same funding and same powers the likes of Liverpool and Manchester are set to get. We have the same housing problems, issues with homelessness and unemployment.

While Cameron may think he needs to look north to secure power for his party, he needs to give us the same opportunities down here.

With an issue as important as devolution, it is not right that decisions are made on the basis of securing votes.

As a paper, we are a voice for Sussex and we are calling on those in Westminster to take note.