On This Day

23 May 1977

Happy birthday to Alison Bennett, MP for Mid Sussex

Born into an army family, she spent her first two years in Cyprus where her father was posted. Moving to Gloucester, she was educated at the King’s School and Newnham College, Cambridge where she graduated with a degree in social and political science. Before getting politically involved, Bennett worked for British Airways and E.on. She joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015 throwing herself into the Lib Dem campaign to take on the dominant Conservatives on Mid Sussex District Council. From having no councillors in 2015, by 2023 the Lib Dems were the largest party on the council with Bennett becoming the council’s deputy leader. She contested Arundel and South Downs at the 2019 general election, coming second before being elected MP for Mid Sussex in 2024 with a majority of 6,662, becoming the first non-Tory MP for the constituency since it was created in 1974. In parliament she served as Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Care and Carers 2024-26.