COLUMN: I will be Horsham's man in Westminster

John Milne MP at the Palace of Westminster

By John Milne MP as printed in the Thursday, 11 July 2024, print edition of the West Sussex County Times.

It’s a great honour to have been elected as the Member of Parliament for Horsham – the first time Horsham has been represented by anyone other than a Conservative for no less than 144 years. However I believe Horsham was a Liberal stronghold in the nineteenth century, so you could say we’re returning to Victorian values!

Before I say anything else I would like to pay tribute to Sir Jeremy Quin, my predecessor. He served our community diligently for 10 years; and while of course we will disagree on our politics, I respect the tremendous commitment and effort that’s needed to be a modern MP.

Horsham is my home. I raised my family up here, my parents lived here, and my wife works locally for the NHS in Horsham. So it means a lot to me to have this opportunity to build on my years as a district and county councillor and take it to a wider stage. As I said both in my acceptance speech and on the campaign trail, I see my role as being Horsham’s man in Westminster, not Westminster’s man in Horsham.

This election was also interesting because Horsham bucked a national trend for low turnout with over 70% here. Why did that happen? I think because many people realised that this time, for the first time, their vote might actually count for something. Our first-past-the-post system is long past its sell-by date and has become a major cause of voter apathy.

I recognise that many people will have voted for me who are not normally Lib Dem inclined and I’m grateful for their support. I will do my best to serve all parts of the community, but especially those who have felt disenfranchised up until now.

There are an exceptional number of new MPs this year, more than half the entire House. For all of us, there’s a huge amount to learn about the (sometimes peculiar!) way in which our Parliamentary system works. Priority number one is to set up and staff a constituency office, ideally in a central location. No MP can hope to do this job alone. It takes a team. Please bear with me while we get this done.

It starts here!