Six candidates are standing for election to parliament to represent the Hove and Portslade constituency on Thursday 4 July 2024.
The six candidates are Sophie Broadbent (Green), Carline Deal (Conservative), Martin Hess (Reform UK), Peter Kyle (Labour), Tanushka Marah (Independent) and Michael Wang (Liberal Democrat).
Each candidate answered questions submitted by voters. Here are the answers from Labour candidate Peter Kyle, 53, who tweets as @PeterKyle. He posts on Instagram @PeterJKyle and his Facebook page is Peter Kyle.
…
Why do you want to be an MP and how are you qualified for the role?
I had a terrible time at school. I left with no usable qualifications and the reading age of an eight-year-old.
I fought to get to university and had to overcome many barriers.
By refusing to accept “no”, I got into Sussex University and went on to a great career.
That’s why I feel qualified and why I’m driven to help others overcome barriers.
The role is a real privilege and I hope I’ve served our patch well since 2015 – I try hard to speak out for residents, help anyone struggling and to improve our area. I can’t wait for those new seafront public toilets to be opened!
…
If elected, how would you deal with performance and pricing problems in privatised utilities such as the water companies, railways, energy companies and the Royal Mail?
I’ve been working hard to improve all these services but it’s been frustrating because I’m not in government and the problems are so deep.
Labour in government would form Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a proper, time-limited windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
Labour will fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power, with a pledge to guarantee the cheapest fares.
We will give Ofwat the powers to ban bonus payments to water bosses.
We need to safeguard the Royal Mail as a British institution that works for workers and customers.
…
What would you do to help people who are struggling to rent or buy a home? Should second homes or Airbnb-style holiday lets be banned?
Labour in government will protect our natural spaces and free up grey belt land for building more affordable homes for families.
In Hove and Portslade, I’m very proud that the council are returning more homes into our council housing stock and the Hyde Partnership for building new affordable housing continues at pace.
More than 2,000 houses and flats are “entire home / apartment” Airbnb rentals in our city and it’s too high and causes a lot of anti-social behaviour issues.
Short-term holiday lets stifle the supply of rented accommodation and in turn drive rents up and conditions down and I support the council in looking at ways to manage this.
…
What steps would you take to improve hospital performance, community care and access to GPs for patients in Brighton and Hove?
The very first act of a new Labour government would be to cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments each week, during evenings and weekends, paid for by cracking down on tax avoidance and non-dom loopholes.
…
Events in Israel and Gaza have affected many members of the community here. What can people in your constituency expect you to say and do as an MP?
As an MP and as a Labour Party we are very clear. There must be a ceasefire, and aid must get to Palestinians who need it so desperately.
The ruling of the Court of International Justice must be obeyed. Further advances into Palestine must stop.
Arms sales should be legal and only agreed by licence. Israel must heed the warning and demands of the international community.
The UK government must uphold its obligations to international law.
…
Do you support building new homes and a replacement for King Alfred swimming pool in the Benfield Valley?
We desperately need a new leisure centre for residents. This is without debate – the current building is past its sell-by date and is falling down.
I want residents to have access to a modern, new facility that is available to everyone and offers a comprehensive range of activities.
I’m NOT in favour of anything being built in Benfield Valley but I’m in favour of any plan that gets this built somewhere soon – in the next five years.
I must stress that the council is running a very intensive consultation process on this.
…
Polling stations are due to be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 4 July. Photo ID is required for those voting in person.
She should have asked the one question that mattered. With net migration running at 685,00 a year in the UK (and the number predicted to rise) what would you do to help people who are struggling to rent or buy a home?
Banning all the AirBnBs in the UK even at will provide enough homes for a couple of months worth of people arriving in the UK every year which means it means it will have a negligible effect for people looking to buy or rent.
Oh yes I forgot Labour are going to ‘bust the gangs’ so in other words they don’t have an plan except to increase this number.
They are so ridiculous. So they are going to bust the people trafficking gangs. Fat chance just like they are going to bust the drug gangs etc. Sadiq Khan can’t bust crime in London what makes Labour think they can bust gangs in France and Romania etc. Why can’t they just be honest and say they aren’t prepared to do anything about it instead of pretending they care or have a plan and high rental prices and a shortage of housing is just something people are going to have to get used to.
Kyle has been an MP for Hove since 2015. Can anyone tell me what he is done for Hove? Genuine question as I am struggling to think of anything!
A vote for Kyle is a vote for Starmer.
Do you want increased wealth taxes including changes to inheritance tax & capital gains tax?
18 upcoming new taxes of £2,094 per family courtesy of Labour;
Labour’s record in Wales is dire;
How do you like your eggs in the morning? – Not in the UK!. Labour’s threat to drag farms into inheritance tax risks more farms closing.
Wages are rising, inflation is back to normal – we are turning a corner.
The country voted for Brexit. The Conservatives delivered it. Whilst Starmer tried to reverse your vote. Starmer dithers.
You never know what you’ll get with Starmer. 96 times he has flip-flopped on his pledges;
Starmer says he never backed Corbyn. He did.
We all know what a Labour government means – TAX
Labour don’t care if they flatten the green belt. We do.
And the list goes on.
A vote for Kyle is a vote for a Labour mismanaged government.
“Mismanaged government”? That’s unbelievable coming from a Tory. I’m going to enjoy seeing your lot of scalpers be utterly destroyed for a generation in a few weeks.
You know full well that alleged tax rise figure is a lie formatted by tory insiders. Stick to facts not fiction. Had 14 years of this rubbish.
Well, of course a vote for a Labour candidate is a vote for Labour, silly.
What do you expect him to have done?
Also please stop pedalling the £ 2k tax rise lie. Because it is a lie.
And a vote for Carline Deal is a vote for more Tory mismanagement.
Many MPs can say they have managed to do something positive for their cities e.g. organise capital funding for Madeira Terrace could be an example.
Or the last conservative MP of Hove that was diagnosed with terminal cancer as an MP brought in new music intellectual licensing laws, campaigned against hunting and managed to get legislation through to ban squatting in residential properties.
Here is a random example from another MP. https://www.nickfletcher.org.uk/news/achievements-your-mp
So Peter Kyle has now been an MP for 9 years and not 4 so what has he done for the City? What are his achievements?
It’s not an MPs role to ‘organise capital funding’ for anything
They can back bids and write to ministers expressing support but it’s for the council and other organisations to put the bids in and organise.
He’s good at being polite and turning up for things, but even that is waning now.
The mask is slipping and something is eating him.
Hyde Housing? Anyone who has any experience of them as a tenant or owner will tell you what they are like. Hiding behind charity status with the most awful customer service and total disregard for anyone.
Kyle knows all about Hyde but somehow keeps promoting them. I would vote Labour but his “connections” with Hyde will make me vote for anyone else. He’s more capitalist than the most right wing Tory.
Hyde Housing should not be permitted to build any new properties until they have resolved the huge number of problems in their existing buildings. But they do nothing and the tenants and owners end up paying for their incompetence. Support for Hyde Housing new developments is verging on criminal.
Fab MP deals with communication quickly and is always happy to help. I suspect he might even increase his majority in Hove and Portslade.
But what has he done for Hove?
Anyone know?
It is a good question? Does anyone know?
What a disingenuous question. Another one. I challenged you on this kind of behaviour before, Councillor. One that I note you remained unforthcoming with a reply.
You are at your best when your fixing local issues. You are at your worst when you try to play Boris Johnson-style games.
Reflect on this. Do better please, Councillor.
Vice Chair of Labour Friends of Israel.
So sits on a committee so one thing.
Hmm. Quite a significant committee which speaks volumes about the true nature of his politics
Supporting an illegal war involves funding terrorism with our taxes – also illegal under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Nice answers on Israel/Gaza issues but Peter did not support the vote for an immediate ceasefire in the commons. Its actions that matter not words. Both the Labour and Conservative parties support the illegal war despite rulings of UN, ICC and ICJ.
Supporting an illegal war involves funding terrorism with our taxes – also illegal under the Terrorism Act 2000.