Petworth's first Lib Dem district councillor in more than 20 years: 'I'm on cloud nine'

After more than 1,000 Petworth residents took too the polling stations on Thursday (May 4), an historic was won for the Liberal Democrats.

“I feel like I’m on cloud nine,” said Harsha Desai, Petworth’s first Lib Dem district councillor since the 90s, “I think initially I was scared during the moment, I found it all quite overwhelming but it was exciting as well and I am so happy with the result.

"The plan was always to do really well but you have got to be realistic – this was always a strong Tory area so we had to put in the work.”

And they did. Harsha and a close-knit team of fellow Liberal Democrats and supporters spent ten months knocking on doors in and around Petworth.

"It was a win for the team as well as for the community. Without my core team helping me out I don’t know how we would have done it.”

She gave special thanks to Claire Hassal, Tricia Stephens, Liz Young, Eddie Boyes and ‘everybody else who helped to deliver for the public’.

On the doorsteps of Petworth homes, a few issues were raised time and time again: the cost of living crisis; increasing use of the foodbank; and infrastructure.

Most of the latter is managed on a county level, so Harsha explained what her role would be as district councillor.

She secured the victory with 616 votes.

Long-standing Tory councillor for the town, Janet Duncton, secured the second most votes with 450, while Green’s Stephanie Carn had 30 and Labour’s Michael Rodell took 56.

Read the full results from across the district here: Chichester local election results 2023 - Liberal Democrats 'jubilant' at securing historic majority