Independent candidates are preparing to take on the main political parties when the local elections are held in May.
A newly formed political group – the Brighton and Hove Independents – has started looking for candidates, supporters and donors.
The group was set up by Bridget Fishleigh – one of seven Independent councillors in Brighton and Hove but the only one to have been elected as an Independent.
Councillor Fishleigh said: “In May, people from across Brighton and Hove will again be voting for the 54 councillors who run our city.
“For the past 12 years, our city has been mismanaged by the Greens and Labour with ineffective, unconstructive Conservative opposition.
“We all know how the system works. These people put the needs of their political parties first – and those of our city and its residents second.
“They have failed so many people in so many different ways, with so many bad decisions guided by party ideology.
“It’s clear that the city that we love is in trouble. Things have got to change.”
She has registered the Brighton and Hove Independents with the official watchdog, the Electoral Commission, and has started to promote her alternative to the Greens, Labour and Conservatives.
At the by-election last May for one of the Rottingdean Coastal seats on Brighton and Hove City Council, two Independents stood.
One of them, Stephen White, who had Councillor Fishleigh’s support, missed out by just 88 votes. The other, Alison Wright, picked up 222 votes.
Councillor Fishleigh represents the same ward – Rottingdean Coastal – having been elected in May 2019, although recent ward boundary changes could add an element of uncertainty at the coming elections.
An expert in politics and government from the London School of Economics, Tony Travers, said: “It’s less easy to get elected in some places in England as an Independent.
“But there are some places not far from Brighton and Hove where you’ve got quite a lot of Independents these days.”
He cited Elmbridge, in Surrey, where the council leader and many of the councillors were Independents – many of them representing residents’ associations.
And Rother District Council in Sussex also has an Independent leader and a sizeable group of Independent councillors.
Professor Travers said that at one time most councillors were independent but over the years a growing number of candidates stood for a political party.
Recently, the trend had started to reverse in places such as Elmbridge, he said, while in the south west of England and parts of Wales and Scotland, independent councillors remained more common.
The leader of the Independent group at the Local Government Association, Marianne Overton, said that the number of Independent councillors in England and Wales had been growing for some time.
With more than 3,000 out of about 20,000 councillors, or about 17 per cent, she said that there were now more Independents than Liberal Democrats.
Councillor Overton said: “I’ve always said that there are local people who are not tied into national political parties but who are determined to do some good in their communities.
“They want to do some good and do something useful but they don’t want to stand for a political party (and) it’s a tough old game if you’re on your own.
“We have an Independent network nationally who help and provide support.
“The aim is to get really good representation and support for voters. There are plenty coming forward. Some will come forward as party members and some will come forward as Independents.”
She said that people wanted good candidates who would stand up and speak up for them – and that Independents were increasingly influential in local government.
Independents had natural integrity and weren’t swayed by ambitions to advance within a party, she said, adding: “Nobody has to stick to the old parties any more.”
Councillor Fishleigh penned a first-person piece about the new Brighton and Hove Independents. To read it, click here.
What a shame Bridget Fishleigh has opted for the negative style campaigning used by the Tories. Her website says we should be “embarrassed” when friends and family visit Brighton and Hove. I can assure you that I’m not and I would never vote for a political group which uses lazy messaging like this. How about you state some actual policies instead?
Tom, I could turn your point straight back at you and argue that ignoring the reality Bridget Fishleigh and the indie group present in favour of a blinkered, rose-tinted presentation of the city is the ultimate ‘lazy’ messaging.
You’re right to infer that those hungry to replace the Greens with other parties seem always to engage in negative campaigning (while the Greens focus on deflecting to the time-honoured excuse of being so hamstrung by budget cuts imposed by central government that all failures must be excused). I support Bridget and I support the ambition of independent candidates standing in May – the arguments they put forward will inevitably be fiercely critical of how the city has been run across successive administrations.
The “negative campaigning” we should be wary of is the ad hominem kind that seeks to denigrate individuals with little or no evidence.
I might add that I wrote a piece for the Brighton Society recently called ‘Dirty Old Town’. I made an effort to research it and the evidence supporting the view that the visitor experience of Brighton is indeed embarrassing is compelling and widely shared. More to the point, the evidence that we are being governed by a political class contemptuous of the public is impossible to ignore.
You’re right that going to the other extreme is also lazy and that’s not what voters want either.
Both are meaningless, exaggerated and only appeal to the angry minority that scream and shout at each other on local Facebook groups and on The Argus website.
These people are not reflective of the population at large.
Instead, the group needs to set out clear policies that address problems such as graffiti (which I assume is what they’re referring to). I want to hear solutions, not click-bate style statements.
Interesting points Tom. I differ slightly though.
I ran as an Independent in 2019. I will support B&H Indies on the basis that their candidates are not minded to make lazy, click-bait statements (though sharp criticism of our council can sound that way). The 500 votes I got in 2019 felt like an accomplishment in the sense that you could’ve pinned a red or a green rosette on a donkey and it would’ve instantly got 1000 more votes than any ‘independent’ (but that’s about to change!).
Independents in May cant be lazy – they will fight for every vote and have views on housing, education, transport (and on tagging, on the failures of cityclean…all of it). They will recommend themselves to voters by being known in their neighborhoods or the city for the things they’ve done.
On your point about B&H Indies setting out policies and solutions I’d say give them a chance!! – the group only launched yesterday! But I’d also point out that manifesto promises are cheap. Why wouldn’t voters put some faith in candidates who are proven capable and who are unencumbered by the tribal loyalties and group-think of parties?
Moreover, an a set of independents (gathering under the umbrella of the group Cllr Fishleigh has instigated) they’ll encompass a diversity of skills and outlook – all the better for arriving at workable solutions. In fact, this city would be enormously improved if it were simply run competently and efficiently (not currently the case) – run by elected representatives who are in touch with and responsive to their ward neighborhoods.
Do take a look at Dirty Old Town – I don’t think you’d regard it as meaningless or exaggerated.
And feel free to interact with B&H Indies. Why not ask them to elaborate on the solutions?
https://www.brighton-society.org.uk/dirty-old-town/