John Milne is the Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Milne won 21,632 votes, representing 39.0% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Jeremy Quin, received 19,115 votes (34.4%), while the Reform UK candidate, Hugo Miller, secured 6,116 votes (11.0%). Milne was duly elected with a majority of 2,517. 

The Horsham constituency is located in West Sussex, in the South East of England. The seat and its predecessors were held by the Conservative Party from 1880 to 2024.

Milne’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Horsham was Jeremy Quin of the Conservative Party. Quin represented the seat from 2015 to 2024.

Political Career

Milne is a member of the House of Commons work and pensions select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the policies and spending of the Department for Work and Pensions and associated bodies.

Milne is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for rural business and the rural powerhouse (chair) and pensions and growth.

Milne delivered his maiden speech on 8 October 2024.

In it, he said: “Being a rock-solid safe seat in a first past the post system is not great for democracy. So many people have come up to me since the election and said it is the first time their vote has ever counted. Horsham’s turnout was over 70%, and if we had proportional representation, we would see that level of engagement everywhere.”

He added: “I strongly support the new government’s house building ambitions, but I am surprised and disappointed to see that they are using the same flawed system to fix local targets as before, except with a bigger stick…

“In Horsham, the average price of a new house is higher than that of the existing stock, so the more we build, the higher our target goes – the exact reverse of what is supposed to happen.”

Before entering parliament, Milne was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor on Horsham District Council in May 2019. He served as deputy leader of the council. Milne was also elected as a county councillor on West Sussex County Council in May 2021.

Milne stood down as a direct councillor in October 2024 and as a county councillor in May 2025.

Political Views

The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) are a liberal political party, occupying the centre to centre-left ground in British politics.

The preamble to the Lib Dem constitution begins: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

The Liberal Democrat autumn conference in 2021 ratified a policy paper entitled What Liberal Democrats Believe. The paper, an attempt to expand on the constitution’s preamble, was framed around seven “principles and values”.

The party’s core values were described as “liberty, equality, democracy, community, internationalism and environmentalism.”

Milne was endorsed by local groups of the cross-party organisation Compass during the 2024 general election. Compass is a thinktank and campaign group. As part of its “Win as One” campaign in the 2024 election, local Compass groups backed a slate of progressive candidates who had pledged their support for electoral reform. The central aim of the initiative was to elect a “caucus” of MPs who would champion the cause of replacing the first past the post electoral system.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Milne voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Milne voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Assisted dying

Milne voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Milne was one of the 38 Liberal Democrat MPs who voted for the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 at its House of Commons third reading.

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Milne voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Born John Laurence Milne on 2 January 1960, he grew up in Epsom, Surrey. He attended Glyn Grammar School.

He studied English literature at Oxford University, graduating in 1982.

Milne worked as a creative director in the advertising industry.  

Personal Life

Milne lives in Horsham with his family.

Trivia

Milne is the first non-Conservative to represent Horsham in parliament since James Clifton Brown, who served as an MP from 1876 to 1880.