Katy Bourne selected as Conservative Party candidate for Sussex mayor
Katy Bourne OBE has been selected as the Conservative Party candidate for the first-ever directly elected Mayor of Sussex and Brighton, following a competitive internal ballot that concluded last week.
Her campaign website is here.
Raised and educated in Sussex, Bourne is best known for her tenure as Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) - a role she has held since 2012, now in her fourth term.
She is currently the longest-serving female PCC in the UK, and one of only two to have won four consecutive elections.
Before entering politics, Bourne built a career in business and media. She lives in Mid Sussex with her husband and two sons.
🧭 What will she stand for?
Bourne’s mayoral campaign is structured around six core priorities, drawing from her experience in community safety, governance and infrastructure:
🏡 1. Sussex homes
Delivering housing “in the right places with the right infrastructure”, using a spatial strategy that protects the countryside while addressing housing need.
🚆 2. Sussex transport
Improving the region’s roads, rail, walking and cycling links through a joined-up travel plan for the whole of Sussex.
💡 3. Innovation and investment
Launching a Silicon Pier Strategy to drive tech and economic growth, building on Sussex’s existing hubs and business base.
🎓 4. Sussex skills
Promoting education, training and apprenticeships to align the local workforce with future economic needs.
🛡️ 5. Safer Sussex
Using her background in policing to strengthen community safety, resilience and public trust across the county.
🧘 6. Healthy Sussex
Championing prevention in public health, social care and community wellbeing.
Bourne positions herself as the most experienced candidate in regional coordination and policing, and promises a pragmatic, calm, non-partisan leadership style.
🗳️ What’s next?
Bourne will almost certainly face candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Greens, Reform and independent candidates in the May 2026 mayoral election. Her selection followe a four-way contest within the Conservative Party, in which she beat out:
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Tim Loughton (former MP for East Worthing & Shoreham)
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Sally-Ann Hart (former MP for Hastings & Rye)
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Paul Marshall (Leader of West Sussex County Council)
The Sussex mayoralty will lead the new Mayoral Combined County Authority for East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove - with powers over transport, housing, skills, adult education, economic development, and potentially more.
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