A senior MHS manager who was born and educated in Brighton has been selected to defend a neighbouring Conservative seat in the general election next month.
Leila Williams, 40, succeeds long-serving MP Tim Loughton, 62, as the candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham.
The mother of two is a former member of Adur District Council and a former chair of the East Worthing and Shoreham Conservatives.
She is the deputy divisional director of operations for University Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which runs several hospitals including three in Brighton.
Ms Williams, who has an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree from Brighton University, joined the NHS in 2008.
She has held operational and strategic roles in mental health, commissioning and acute care – and in her current post she is based at Southlands and Worthing hospitals.
Ms Williams said: “I am delighted to have been selected as the Conservative party candidate for the area in which I have lived and worked for many years.
“I am a local mother of two, with 15 years’ NHS service, currently working in Worthing and Southlands hospitals.
“I am passionate about getting a better deal for working parents and developing affordable housing solutions for those looking to rent or buy.
“I also intend to use my extensive NHS experience to improve access to doctors and dentists as we know these are really key issues in our local area.”
After studying at Brighton and Hove High School for Girls – now known as Brighton Girls – Ms Willliams was an undergraduate at Reading University and a postgraduate at Manchester University.
Despite suffering from Crohn’s disease since the age of 12, she enjoys running marathons and has two children – a 17-year-old and a three-year-old.
The seat was held by Mr Loughton for 27 years. He served as a junior minister in the coalition government when David Cameron was Prime Minister.
The constituency has attracted several candidates with Brighton and Hove links over the years, including Paul Elgood, a Liberal Democrat, and Sophie Cook and Daniel Yates for Labour. Mr Yates went on to become the leader of Brighton and Hove City Council.
Mr Loughton had a majority of 7,474 at the 2019 general election. Since then his party has lost control of both Adur and Worthing councils to Labour.
Ms Williams has pitched herself as the local Conservative taking on the London Labour candidate Tom Rutland who was a councillor in Lambeth until March.
The Oxford University graduate is in his early thirties and works in public affairs for the Prospect trade union.
His selection was controversial after Labour prevented two local candidates from taking part in the process – Shoreham councillor Cat Arnold and Worthing councillor Carl Walker.
Ms Arnold has since resigned her seat on Adur District Council. Councillor Walker, the deputy leader in Worthing, is a Brighton University lecturer.
Tories OUT
Maybe she was indoctrinated by her parents. For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone connected to the NHS would vote Tory at this election let alone be a Tory candidate . The mind boggles.
Specifically when you consider what Jeremy Rhymes with Hunt did to junior doctors.
Perhaps that says more about you John! Try keeping an open mind!
I think when you go to private school, and then follow this leg-up by studying business at a decidedly average uni, only to end up in an unnecessary salary-sucking middle management position in the NHS, with no medical background, it makes sense you’d go for the Conservatives: asset stripping the Trust, waiting lists that grow and grow unless you can afford to pay for the same service from the same clinicians in the same hospital. The alarming thing is the cognitive dissonance. She probably genuinely believes she’s going to so some good.
So she wants to focus on affordable housing and access to GPs and Dentists in the NHS? Both things the Tories have had 14 years to improve and have not just failed at, but made far worse. Not sure I trust her judgement.