The Liberal Democrats strengthened their position as the main opposition party, gaining a net total of four seats, despite their own share of the vote falling by nearly 4%.

The Labour Party lost five of the seven seats they had held before the election, and saw their vote fall by nearly 10%, broadly in line with their national decline.

This decline saw the party fall to fourth place in the county in terms of the popular vote, being replaced in third by the UK Independence Party, who are likely to have benefited by voting being held alongside the European Parliament elections.

[1] The elections were the first to be fought on new electoral divisions as recommended by the Boundary Committee for England following a review, carried out at the request of West Sussex County Council.

[2] The recommendations were accepted by the Electoral Commission in February 2009, who implemented the legal order authorising the change and allowing the new divisions to be used in these elections on 6 March 2009.