Several Sussex constituencies have been branded as “non-priority” to win by the Labour Party at the next general election.

Among the more than 90 parliamentary seats listed on the Labour’s “non-priority parliamentary candidate selection process list” are nine from across Sussex - from Chichester to Bexhill.

While Labour will stand a candidate in every constituency, the party is targeting a selection of key seats it sees as vital to securing an overall majority at the next election, which is expected to take place next year.

The non-priority seats in Sussex include the constituency of Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Minister for Women Maria Caulfield, Rail Minister Huw Merriman and Schools Minister Nick Gibb.

Full list of Labour’s “non-priority” seats in Sussex

  • Arundel and South Downs: current MP - Andrew Griffith, Conservative
  • Bexhill and Battle: current MP - Huw Merriman, Conservative
  • Bognor Regis and Littlehampton: current MP - Nick Gibb, Conservative
  • Chichester: current MP - Gillian Keegan, Conservative
  • East Grinstead and Uckfield (new constituency)
  • Eastbourne: current MP - Caroline Ansell, Conservative
  • Horsham: current MP - Jeremy Quin, Conservative
  • Lewes: current MP - Maria Caulfield, Conservative
  • Sussex Weald: current MP - Nusrat Ghani, Conservative

The party either came third or a distant second in the constituencies at the last general election. However, election forecaster ElectoralCalculus currently predicts that Labour could come close to winning two seats on the “non-priority list”.

Their current projection gives Labour a 48 per cent chance of winning Bognor Regis and Littlehampton and a 43 per cent chance of ousting the Education Secretary in Chichester.

The list was welcomed by the Liberal Democrats, who are hoping to win Lewes and Eastbourne at the next election.

The Lewes branch of the party tweeted: “At the next election, Lewes will be a two-horse race between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats”.

Josh Babarinde, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Eastbourne, also took to social media and said: “If any confirmation was needed that Eastbourne is a two-horse race between the Conservatives and me, here it is.

“The Liberal Democrats are the only route to banishing the Tories from this town.

Sussex’s seven other seats are not included on the list, implying that Labour will be working to try to win them in their race to get the keys to Number 10.

They include Worthing’s two constituencies, Crawley, all three seats in Brighton and Hove, Mid Sussex, which includes Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath, and Hastings and Rye.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “Labour will be selecting high-calibre candidates across the country who will be campaigning for every vote.

“As the Selby and Ainsty by-election result showed, this is a changed Labour Party, winning support across the country.”