Reform UK has selected its candidate for the Westbourne and Poets’ Corner by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
The party has picked Gary Farmer, 54, centre director for a successful independent English language school in the heart of Brighton.
The party said: “We are delighted to have Gary as our Reform candidate for the upcoming by-election in Westbourne and Poets’ Corner.
“In addition to living in Brighton and Hove, Gary was born, raised and educated here and has over 500 years of family history in and around the city. He is a true Brightonian to the core.
“As an educator, businessman and community campaigner, he brings a wealth of skills and experience that will help, support and promote in a practical hands-on approach the residents and businesses of Westbourne and Poets’ Corner.”
Mr Farmer said: “Growing up in Brighton and Hove I have a deep-rooted connection with the city.
I’ve been involved in local politics for about 10 years.
“As part of the LGBTQ community, married to a South East Asian migrant, an educator and a businessman from a working-class background, I bring a wealth of personal, professional and political experience to the table.
“The people of Westbourne and Poets’ Corner deserve better recognition with fearless representation in council. This is where other parties fail; this is where Reform shines.
“The council neglects the needs of our residents in favour of ideologies and vanity projects which do not serve the good people of Brighton and Hove.
“A strong, passionate and fearless voice is needed to truly hold our council to account.
“They are impudent and reckless, behaving with an air of entitlement while remaining unchallenged and unchecked.
“It is time for change. We now have a golden opportunity to truly make the ward and our city a better place for everyone by choosing a Reform candidate for council.
“It would be an honour to serve and really make a difference.”
He stood in the Kemptown by-election last year, for the Brighton & Hove Independents group.
And in Regency in the 2023 full council elections. Also for the B&H Independents.
So?
So Ennio, by jumping around from ward to ward, it can be seen as a perceived lack of commitment to a specific community or area, appearing to be “seat-shopping” rather than genuinely wanting to represent residents. Especially since Gary’s focuses have historically been about 38m of parking space in the Old Steine, this seat a fair distance away.
Furthermore, switching parties may suggest Gary is driven more by ambition than values. It also raises questions about what Gary really stands for. There’s also the fear that Gary could switch again after being elected.
Basically, it looks tactical and unprincipled.
I’m sure a person who previously stood for Brighton & Hove Independents in Kemptown is now standing for a different party in a different ward because they really care about all of the people of Brighton & Hove and not just themself & their own business interests.
I thought English Language Schools had lost a lot of business due to Nigel Brexit Farage
I must be wrong
You are wrong. It is thriving and students do not only come from the EU (like me)
Did you get inappropriately involved with your teacher?
No Ennio, you are wrong – your name is new here, so I would like to suggest you fact-check yourself before making easily verifiable, inaccurate comments in the future.
Yes, TEFL schools in the UK have suffered significantly after Brexit, and this trend has been confirmed by a mix of industry reports, stakeholder surveys, and academic analysis. Brexit has clearly led to reduced student numbers, increased administrative burdens, and greater global competition.
BH Independents is NOT a party, it is a group of Independent people under one umbrella each with their own political agenda. Get your facts right.
Its literally registered with the electoral commission as a party. Bridget F is the only true “party leader” on BHCC in fact! read the paperwork!
“Brighton and Hove Independents” is indeed a party Ennio. Bridget Fishleigh, the leader of the party, even says so herself. I understand the confusion the semantics give, but you might want to check your own facts before criticising others. If you don’t know, ask a question instead; most of us are happy to talk about it.
His “500 years of family history” should have taught him a thing or two about populism, demagogues and the dangers of supporting a nicotine-stained plank who stands on cliffs pointing at small boats.
& as a ‘Brightonian’ that this ward is in Hove, actually.
Imagine being gay, married to a migrant and jumping into bed with a party full of people that will hate you for both of those things! Even if they want to pretend otherwise, you just know what they’ll all be saying behind his back!
So what’s the alternative utopian party? You got any miracle solutions? You sound like the very thing you’re trying to describe. BIGOT!!
Yes, I couldn’t possibly be speaking from experience as an LGB person who comes from a working class background could I? I don’t have the answers, I just know that this bloke will will have a knife in his back eventually. Cuddling up to the far right won’t stop any of them shoving us into ovens when the time comes.
I’m gay and from a working class background. Do I get brownie points now? What’s “far right”? Are you saying every Reform member are racists? I voted Reform. Am I far right?
I couldn’t give two hoots what they think about my sexuality. All I know is the UK was and is heading towards disaster by the Tories and now Labour.
You don’t have the answers? Well can you at least tell us which party to vote for and why?
You’re free to vote for whoever you wish. Just expressing my opinion on Reform as I have every right to do (for now!)
I take it you don’t actually live in Brighton. Otherwise it’s quite an achievement that you managed to vote for Reform despite them not running here in the last elections.
I’m not a fan of Labour or the Tories either – for the record. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be led into the woods blindfolded by Reform. I don’t trust them any more than I do any other party. That’s all.
When did I say I live in Brighton? That’s Looney Tunes Green party territory. I voted for Martin Hess (Hove & Portslade).
You have the right to express yourself. So does everyone else. Including Reform supporters. Rights and respect is a two way street.
Still haven’t told me who to vote and why. No solutions plenty of arguments. 🙄🥱
Some far right with zia yusaf as chairman. Ridiculous comment!
Any opposition to the left is now seen automatically as far right. Reform are centrists and threats to the LGBGT community do not come from them!
Absolutely Reform will follow where racism is , there is homophobia , don’t be fooled by the wolf in sheep,s loathing .Does Hove really want this candidate ?
The age old cry from the left. He’s a racist! He is homophobic. Not true, clearly! Find another song sheet to sing from. Reform simply put British people first, whatever their colour or sexuality. Liebour do not do that!
Even if Reform somehow become the government they will be as clueless as the rest and unable to fix the country’s problems.
Not local to Hove and has previously criticized other local election candidates for not being local.
Bit hypocritical really.
Why would he be a Reform member? A party that’s not really a party and is a business owned by Farage? An odd bed to decide to sleep in.
Odd. LGBT and married to an immigrant, but standing for Reform. Turkeys and Christmas spring to mind.
The turkeys and Christmas analogy is more suited to members of the LGBT community who campaign for Palestine and condemn Israel. It’s amazing to see gay people endorsing a culture and religion which would stone them or throw them off buildings. I’d far rather be an LGBT person in Israel than in a Muslim country where gays are put to death and women are repressed, marginalised or face physical abuse.
That’s a far more absurd situation than the lgbtq people who vote reform – which has never made any homophobic or racist statement.
Standing up for British values isn’t racism. Calling for reduced migration isn’t racism. Questioning why economic migrants coming from France, a safe country, aren’t being sent home is not racist. It’s common sense for any country – let alone a small island with limited resources and a rapidly increasing population. So let’s forget the slurs. Reform is no more of a threat to lgbtq people or ethnic minorities than any other political party.
Stop trying to pinkwash Israel’s apartheid and genocide. Israel’s cruelty does not distuinguish between straight,bi or gay,,Hamas fighter,civilian,child or aid worker.Their bombs kill everyone.As do their IDF soldiers who illegally detain and torture people to death in notorious detention camps such as Sde Temain.
Also,Israel is hardly a liberal paradise.Gay marriage is not legal there and interfaith marriages are not legally recognised there.Its a deeply racist,colonial apartheid state with a an etremist right-wing government.
Your post comes across as more than a little homophobic. What on earth is ‘pink washing’? Another term invented to bash those with alternative views to the lefty liberal elite?
Whatever your criticism of Israel the Jews and the gays have always stood together as persecuted minorities – especially when they were both being killed in their thousands in Nazi Germany. Israel might not be perfect but at least you don’t run the risk of being murdered on a daily basis because you’re an abomination to Islam. I think I’d rather take my chances in Tel Aviv than Palestine thanks very much.
Good chance if you lived in Palestine Matt you would be shot by the IDF just like the ambulance drivers, journalists, aid workers, doctors and children but as you say Isreal is not perfect.
John Brown was not being homophobic at all, Just calling out your bullsh@t. Ennio we see your bill sh&t too.
In Palestine:
Governance:
Hamas has an ultra-conservative stance on homosexuality
Legal Status:
Homosexuality is considered taboo and is not legally recognized.
Discrimination Protections:
LGBTQ individuals face significant persecution and violence, including executions, for those accused of homosexual acts.
In Israel:
Legal Status:
Homosexuality has been legal in Israel since 1988
Military Service:
LGBTQ individuals are allowed to serve openly in the military
Discrimination Protections:
There are protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, education, and other services
Family Rights:
Same-sex couples can adopt children and have their marriages recognized if performed abroad
Probably because Reform welcomes gays and legal immigrants. You need to stop watching the left wing media.
However, have made a pretty clear stance on being anti-transgender. You can imagine that causing some concerns with the adjacent LGBTQ community, right?
Amazing how bigoted and out of touch some people are in this thread. Reform has no policies that are anti-gay, this is ignorant and lies (comments about shoving gays into ovens – really disgusting and homophobic). Reform has issues with ILLEGAL migration, not LEGAL migrants – I guess his partner works and pays his way unlike so many sponging off our taxes. So what if he stood elsewhere before, he was an independent then and now isn’t – again so what’s the problem. It is about being the best candidate and to be given the opportunity on merit, Labour and the Greens have failed miserably in the city – look a the neglect and state of our city. Brighton & Hove is a a city (actually) – another immature comment about Hove. So he was independent and now has joined a party, nothing wrong with that either, and to be honest Labour are pretty much the same as the last lot both here in the city and nationally – no change there. Politics is broken, people are polarised and too quick to judge. Good luck to him, he might actually keep his promises unlike Labour and not kick the country while it’s down (or punch a constituent when they are down like Labour MP Amesbury).
You’ve always been quick to defend Gary. Well, he was part of a the independent party, which is a party of independents, semantically.
The switching around of wards and parties are important to note, because to many, that will suggest someone who is more interested in personal political progression, rather than aligning with an ideology.
Reform kind of suits Gary, from my experience of him. His adversial approach lends itself to Reform’s typical narrative and methodology. Even when pointing out a fact of his previous history, I was met with irritability.
I don’t think that kind of behaviour makes an effective ward councillor for Brighton, or much of an effective community advocate, something I once suggested to a self-titled satirist in Kemptown, but I wish him well. Standing meaning putting your head above the crowds, so I respect anyone who does it.
I’m gay too. Reform gets my vote. They are the only party with a chance of sorting out this country. Plenty of LGBTQ and ethnic minority candidates within Reform yet still critics like to use accusations of racist and homophobia to bash the party. It’s boring and tedious. Listen to what Reform is saying rather than what you think it’s saying.
Well done , i’m gay and a member of Reform.
He sounds like a decent candidate with lots of useful experience, unlike the current administration who lack the professionalism or intellectual capacity and to run the city.
Make Poets Corner Great Again! It’s a shame for the Gary that his party wasn’t around 40/50 years ago when this area had a demographic which would’ve voted in droves for Reform. Long gone now and replaced by the metropolitan, dry robe wearing elite……..
Please don’t use a fascist’s quote as a term of endearment…
Make Poets’ Corner Great Again
Make Westbourne Great Again
Make Hove Great Again
Make Brighton Great Again
Nothing wrong with any of this xxxx
Apart from the silly red baseball hats, idiocy and fascism?
The phrase has since been adopted globally by far-right populist movements, often as a dog-whistle for nationalism, xenophobia, and reactionary politics. Using this phrase—even in jest—risks normalising or echoing those ideologies, whether or not that’s the intention. Completely inappropriate for a progressive place such as Brighton. You do a lot of harm to Gary’s chances through this, if you really want to support him, you’d do well to consider the rhetoric.
So, no Ennio, there is plenty wrong with all of that.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there. Reform is very much a party that belongs in the Hove of 40/50 years ago……..
Ah, the same Gary who harassed staff despite getting the answer he asked; he just didn’t like the answer, then started to attack people who pointed this out.
…yeah, fits Reform very well.
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2024/11/13/business-owner-criticises-council-for-failing-to-share-vital-information/
“harassed” ??? – I think you have a problem, “attack” ??? – I think you have a problem. Pot / kettle / black xx
I suspect you need to read up on some definitions, Ennio. I give your response a 38m out of 10.
noun
harassment (noun) · harassments (plural noun)
aggressive pressure or intimidation:
I think that is you sweetie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You’re not going to cut it as a political wife sweetie. You’ve just shown up Gary as a plant to wreck Reform UK.
Vote reform
Agreed – how about Alternative Vote or are you happier with some other form of proportional representation?
I hope people see sense and don’t vote Labour….
Some very toxic people here, just spitting hateful comments at the man. Unfortunately that’s the world we live in where people hide behind made up names and write bile from their kitchen table without fear of identification or consequence. Fair play to Gary for putting his name and his face out there, more than 99% of the population would. For that he gets my vote, brave man indeed
Absolutely, anyone who stands to be a ward councillor should be applauded, as I’ve said about all the candidates. Part of that process is about being publicly criticised, and it’s important to discuss the concerns that we each hold. Challenge the concepts, the methodologies, and ideologies.
For example, do you think just being brave is enough justification to vote for a specific candidate? By your own definition, every single candidate should be equal using that as a measure, right?