General Election 2024: Liberal Democrats win Mid Sussex in ‘historic moment’

Alison Bennett was elected with 21,136 votes.

The Mid Sussex seat was previously held by Conservative Mims Davies, but a recent boundary change saw Mrs Davies campaigning for the East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency instead.

Kristy Adams, who was this year’s Conservative candidate for Mid Sussex, came in second with 14,474 votes.

In her acceptance speech Alison Bennett said: “This is a historic moment for the Liberal Democrats.”

She thanked the people of Mid Sussex, saying: “This is a place I’m proud to call home. It’s a place where people are made to feel welcome and it’s a place where we care, both about where we live and each other.”

She continued: “People from all walks of life have been let down and taken for granted again and again by this out-of-touch Conservative government and to everyone here in Mid Sussex, no matter how you voted in this election, I hear you and I will fight for you all year round and I promise to be your local champion in Parliament.”

Mrs Bennett added that she was ‘truly humbled’ by the faith voters had shown in her.

She told the Middy she was ‘blown away by the result’. She said: “It's beyond my wildest dreams in some ways to become the Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex. It’s been a journey of growth for me and the large team of volunteers over a number of years now.”

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The votes for the other candidates were:

Gary Peter Johnson (Reform UK) 5,921.

Deanna Nicholson (Green Party) 2,048.

David Rowntree (Labour Party) 9,397.

Baron Von Thunderclap (Official Monster Raving Loony Party) 352.

Mid Sussex District Council said there 145 rejected votes.

Across the UK Labour won by a landslide in this year’s general election that saw the Conservatives face a historic defeat. Our editor in chief Gary Shipton said there had been a ‘national swing against the Tories’ and said the ‘political earthquake’ had been felt in Sussex. Read his full statement here.

Mid Sussex Labour candidate Dave Rowntree told the Middy during the count: “I’m really happy with our campaign. The whole party worked together; everybody contributed. It's something to build on in the future, and shows that Labour can be a force to reckon with in Mid Sussex.”

The vote count for both the Mid Sussex and East Grinstead and Uckfield constituencies took place at The Triangle Leisure Centre in Burgess Hill, starting at 10pm on Thursday, July 4.

It was a long night as the results, which were expected to be announced at 3am on Friday, July 5, were eventually announced at about 5.15am. This was partly due to the late arrival of the last postal votes.

Kathryn Hall, chief executive of Mid Sussex District Council and returning officer, said at 10pm as polls closed that there would be a wall in place all night at the sports hall to keep the two constituencies ‘completely separate’.

She told the vote counters: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint, tonight.”

She said: “We’ll do our very best to get through this as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

Mid Sussex District Council said voter turnout was high this year. After verification was complete, it was revealed that the turnout for Mid Sussex was 70.4 per cent (53,489 ballot papers issued out of an electorate of 75,969).