‘We made a bit of history here tonight’ as John Milne elected Horsham’s first Liberal Democrat MP

Liberal Democrat, John Milne, has been elected as Horsham’s newest MP, with a majority of two and half thousand votes.

John Milne was elected with 21,632 votes, while Sir Jeremy Quin, the out-going Conservative MP, received 19,115 votes. Turnout was 70.4% with 55,724 total ballots cast.

John MIlne is the first Liberal Democrat MP to represent Horsham at Westminster, following a 144 year line of Conservative MPs.

John Milne, newly elected MP for Horsham, said in his acceptance speech:

“Many thanks to the Returning Officer & the elections team at Horsham District Council for your professionalism and efficiency. 

“Thanks also to my Liberal Democrat campaign team, especially my agent Sarah Ullman, Jon Olson, Malcolm Brierly & Alex Jeffery. Fortunately their plans for me did not include water slides or bungee jumping. And I thank all the volunteers across the district who’ve worked so hard towards this day. You amaze me, because you do it all out of nothing except faith and hope.

“But above all I want to thank the voters of Horsham for this amazing result. Horsham has been through 144 years of continuous Conservative rule. Tonight’s result wasn’t supposed to happen. But somehow, you rewrote the script.

“I recognise that not everyone who voted for me is a natural Lib Dem supporter, and that many people have lent me their support. So I feel an especial obligation to strive to be an MP for the whole community.

“I see myself as very much a constituency MP working hard for local issues. I aim to be Horsham’s man in Westminster, not Westminster’s man in Horsham.

“And the fact is, the Lib Dems are good at doing local. Across the country we have thousands of councillors and we run many councils. The UK is one of the most centralised states in Europe and that’s a problem - we need more power, and above all more funding, to be devolved to the local level.

“I’m ready to fight for an NHS we can be proud of, for a greener future, and above all for a fairer society. 

“Together, we made a bit of history here tonight. Thank you Horsham."