Almost 100 candidates will be contesting in the General Election in Sussex on May 5.

But with only 16 seats up for grabs there will be plenty of losers.

The list of election hopefuls was published yesterday and contained few surprises.

The big three parties - Labour, Conservative and the Liberal Democrats - are standing in every constituency in the county. So is the UK Independence Party.

The Green Party is standing in seven seats and the rest of the candidates are made up of an assortment of independents, socialists and others.

All but two of the MPs from the last Parliament will be defending their seats next month.

The two that are not are defence minister Ivor Caplin, who stepped down in Hove and Portslade to focus on his business career - his seat will be contested for by Celia Barlow (Labour) - and Howard Flight (Conservative), who was sacked and replaced as candidate for Arundel and South Downs by Nick Herbert.

The deadline for voter registration passed last month but those who are already registered may apply for a postal vote until April 26.

For those who prefer to cast their vote in person, hundreds of polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on election day.

Voters in East and West Sussex, but not Brighton and Hove, will also get the chance to elect their county councillors at the same time.

The county council elections take place every four years and have coincided with the previous two general elections. Both councils are currently led by the Conservatives.

Of the 16 general election constituencies, ten are currently held by the Tories, five by Labour and one by the Liberal Democrats.

The closest battles are expected to be in the Labour-held seats of Hove and Portslade, Hastings and Rye, Brighton Kemptown and Crawley, and the Tory-held seat of Eastbourne.

Candidate list - www.theargus.co.uk/election/constituencies