Political opinion: Chichester looks forward to historic election

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The new Chichester Constituency comprises Chichester’s coastal area encompassing the harbour villages to the west of Chichester, Chichester city, the Manhood Peninsula, villages to the east of the city including Oving and Tangmere, as well as Bersted, Pagham and the southern Downland villages to the north of Chichester.

Although the previous Chichester constituency has been held by Conservative MPs for over a century, the Liberal Democrats are hopeful that they will make history with a win on July 4th.

“Our canvassing results suggest that this is going to be an incredibly tight race between us and the Conservatives,” said Kate O’Kelly, campaign agent for Chichester Liberal Democrats.

“The starting gun has been fired and we are ready here in Chichester for a big and bold Liberal Democrat campaign,” Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, announced on Facebook, thanking her campaign volunteers and everyone sending messages of support.

In a notable local election result last year, Liberal Democrats won 25 seats in Chichester District Council last year compared to just 5 seats by the Conservatives, 2 by the Greens, 4 Selsey independents, while Labour failed to win a single seat.

Many residents took to social media within minutes of Sunak’s announcement calling for tactical voting in the area including Pete Phillips. “I don’t normally vote Lib Dem, but I taught Jess at university, wonderful student, very intelligent woman. Worth lending your vote to,” he wrote, subsequently confirming he will be voting Lib Dem and was happy to be quoted. Jess attended Chichester University after growing up in the area and is campaigning to be a constituency MP who will stand up for residents, local businesses, and the Chichester area, first and foremost.

Gillian Keegan, Chichester's previous MP, also took to FB announcing the General Election and saying she was “delighted to be standing as your Conservative candidate for Chichester.” Keegan rose quickly in the Conservative ranks after being elected as MP for Chichester in 2017, serving in four different departments under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak before being appointed Secretary of State for Education. She was the Cabinet Minister with the highest majority in the Sunak government, which would make a victory by Jess and the Liberal Democrats one of election night’s major Portillo moments, a scenario predicted by the Evening Argus last December.