, was a
Constituency of the
House Of Commons of the
Parliament Of England then of the
Parliament Of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the
Parliament Of The United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two
Members Of Parliament until 1832.
The constituency was split into two two-member divisions, for Parliamentary purposes, in 1832. The county was then represented by the
Sussex Eastern and
Sussex Western constituencies.
was one of the
Historic Counties Of England . The constituency comprised the whole county, except for the
Boroughs of
Arundel ,
Bramber ,
Chichester ,
East Grinstead ,
Horsham ,
Lewes ,
Midhurst ,
New Shoreham and
Steyning .
The county franchise, from 1430, was held by the adult male owners of freehold land valued at 40 shillings or more. Each elector had as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the
Hustings , which took place in the
County Town of
Chichester . The expense and difficulty of voting at only one location in the county, together with the lack of a secret ballot contributed to the corruption and intimidation of electors, which was widespread in the unreformed British political system.
The expense, to candidates, of contested elections encouraged the leading families of the county to agree on the candidates to be returned unopposed whenever possible. Contested county elections were therefore unusual.
