Guildford
In 2002, Milton was selected for Guildford, a seat which the Conservatives had unexpectedly lost in 2001 to the Liberal Democrats. This was one of the first selections to be made and Milton stood out not only because few women had been selected. Her connection to health care, an area in which the Conservatives felt weak, and her lack of interest in issues such as British membership of the European Union and asylum-seekers, meant that she was thought of as a member of the modernising wing of the Conservative Party.
Following Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith's 2003 conference speech, Milton was interviewed in the Sunday Herald newspaper published in Glasgow. She stated that the priority she heard from the people of Guildford was crime, but lamented the poor press reaction to Duncan Smith's speech. After Duncan Smith was defeated in a vote of confidence among Conservative MPs, she immediately backed Michael Howard as the new leader; following his election, she played host to his wife Sandra on a campaign trip to Guildford.
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