Collective Action Brighton and Hove has announced that it is supporting a candidate in the Westbourne and Poets’ Corner by-election.
David Maples, who is a housing and disability campaigner, was chosen at an open hustings to stand for the vacant seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Mr Maples has considerable experience as a community campaigner in helping families and individuals to get the services they need. He is also an experienced trade union representative and a member of the Socialist Party.
He said: “Being a councillor would give me a platform to oppose cuts and the war on Palestine and to champion the needs of the community.
“Immediately, I would concentrate on fighting the proposed cuts to the library service, campaigning for abolition of adult social care and special transport charges and reducing primary school class sizes to 25 with community control of education.
“I have particular experience of special educational needs, adult social care, homelessness and housing issues.
“As the council is more interested in rationing than service provision, this will be invaluable.
“A councillor has a platform to campaign on national and international issues. I would campaign to ban all arms sales to Israel and to stop the war on Palestine.
“I will not accept the councillor’s £14,218pa allowance. I will use this money to support community campaigns including strikes.
“I would seek to identify a trade union organisation in Gaza to work with and support.
“This election should be used to show the role a new mass working class party with a socialist programme based upon the trade unions could play.”
Collective Action Brighton and Hove is the successor organisation to the Tanushka Marah election campaign.
She secured 3,048 votes in the general election (5.9 per cent), beating the Liberal Democrats. Mr Maples was her election agent.
The by-election is due to be held on Thursday 1 May after Labour councillor Leslie Pumm resigned citing his health.
April fools was yesterday 🤣🤣
“I will not accept the councillor’s £14,218pa allowance. I will use this money to support community campaigns including strikes.“
That’s all very well except to do that you’ll have to be paid the allowance (and pay tax and National Insurance on it) and then spend it yourself on those things.
Yeah, it’s not very realistic. The allowance when you work it out, considering the hours the councillors tend to put in, is less than minimum wage.
Still, his heart seems in the right place.
He lost me when claiming councillors have a platform to campaign for international issues, quite simply they don’t and this sort of idea is what helped deal the Greens such a huge defeat at the last election.
International affairs are relevant to local issues. We have seen the government make massive increases to spending on defence. This impacts on money available for local services. It all interlinks.
That doesn’t change the fact that local councillors have zero say in foreign policy, defense ( which arms sales come under alongside the FCO) or any other national or international level policies.
More over a councillor is elected to serve his local community and to focus all their time and effort on doing so. They have no mandate to dedicate time and resources to things they have no authority or say in. To do so is to fail in their sole purpose.
If they want to campaign on international issues then stand for election as an MP. Where they will a say and the authority/ mandate to speak up and attempt to influence such matters.
Imho anybody seeking local office who platforms themselves on campaigning for things they have no influence on and/or a thousands of miles away has already excluded themselves from being a local councillor. Their SOLE purpose is to serve their local community, their electorate and the local taxpayer.
I agree with you Clayton. Your ward comes first and foremost. Before big P politics, got to be present so your residents can see you when they need you.
There are better platforms if international is your passion, Ward Councillor is not one of them.
I can afford to donate my allowances to strike funds.
Yup, we need more affluent “socialists” to represent us. The kind that can afford “Corbynism” and/or however the deeply unpragmatic, protest, no-student-fees, comfortable, good pension-receiving types are allying themselves to this week.
Council allowances make it possible for people of working age to fulfil their democratic obligations without actually losing their jobs.
So much for diversity of class, eh.
Really good point. Personally, I don’t think the allowance is enough, most Ward Councillors I know hold second jobs to make ends meet.
David rightly makes the connection between welfare and warfare. Successive Labour and Green councils have passed on cuts from central government to local services with barely a whimper. Now, with Starmer’s boost to spending on the military, cuts will be even worse. As far as I can see David would be the only councillor with the will and the guts to oppose this madness. On what matters in the ward, opposing library and school closures is at the top of his agenda. Fighting back against austerity rather than rolling over, that what David’s campaign is all about.
I see that ‘championing the needs of the community’ is last on the list of things he will use his ‘platform’ for.
I think most residents agree that local politics is not the place for wannabee Wolfie Smiths.
Hey Atticus, let it not be said that we never agree on anything. On this we are fully aligned.
Thumbs up!
My take is that he really seems to be wanting to keep our local public services and libraries adequately funded and open. He’s also campaigned against a local school closure and is long standing anti-disability campaigner which is all great stuff. I think he’s talking more about keeping money in the local area and with locals constituents and keeping services well run.
From these comments it looks an awful lot like the commentors believe in the compartmentalisation our great and good rulers would very much like to continue. That is not how progress is made. Resistance is what makes true progress.
Maples got experience and a back story of campaigning for the disadvantaged in our community… and he wants to keep our public services, libraries and schools from under funding and closure, so what’s not to like? I think he’d do a great job for the ward.