'Show Keegan the door' Lib Dems urge voters as party leader visits Chichester

Davey threw his weight behind parliamentary candidate Jessica Brown-Fuller, who is set to run for Chichester in the next general election, and told the Observer that city politics are shifting away from the Conservatives.

“Chichester is swinging to the Liberal Democrats,” he said. “I think people feel really let down by the Conservatives. They feel let down on things like cost of living, on the health service, on sewage and the water industry. They feel the Conservatives don’t care about the people of Chichester and that’s why they’re turning in such huge numbers to us.”

If Brown-Fuller wins, she will be the first Liberal Democrat MP to represent Chichester in over 100 years, but both she and Davey feel they are in with a shot. The campaign hopes to recreate Lib Dem successes in constituencies like Somerton and Frome, which they wrested from the Tories during a July by-election.

"We’re increasingly strong on the south coast. If you see what’s happening in Eastbourne, if you see what’s happening in Lewes, and I think Chichester is part of that story. In many parts of these former Tory heartlands, people are turning to the Liberal Democrats,” Davey added.

Brown-Fuller will be hoping to build on that momentum come the general election, as well as on the precedent set by the Liberal Democrat’s historic win in this year’s regional elections, which saw them claim 25 of 36 possible seats.

“I’m a local,” Brown-Fuller, who also serves on the District Council, said. “Although I can’t profess to being born here, I’ve been here since I was nine. Chichester runs through my veins. I’m passionate about the city, passionate about the coast, I’m raising my family here, and I’m passionate about the Liberal Democrats. I truly believe that Chichester deserves to be represented by someone living the Chichester life day to day.

"If I’m elected, I will be operating an open door policy so that residents know how to get in touch with me, they know that they can talk to me, because I’m one of them. I’m raising my kids in the same place, shopping in the same shops. I’m a Chichester resident.”