The Greens have picked their candidate to stand in the Queen’s Park by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Marina Lademacher, 28, a Sussex University academic, hopes to win the vacant seat at the by-election on Thursday 18 September.
The vacancy followed the resignation of Labour councillor Tristram Burden, 46, who was elected in May 2023 when his party won control of the council.
Ms Lademacher said: “I’m delighted to have been selected as the Green candidate for Queen’s Park.
“I’ve already been out speaking to residents who feel abandoned by the Labour Party and are clear that they want a real alternative to Labour austerity – someone who will listen to and speak out for them.
“We need truly affordable housing, rent controls, an end to homelessness and for the wealthiest to finally pay their fair share.
“If elected, I’ll never stop working to fight for the fairer, more equal Brighton and Hove we all deserve.”
The Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Siân Berry, said: “I have seen just how hard Marina works and cares about the local community.
“With huge public support and momentum behind her campaign and the Greens, she will soon be an amazing councillor and another vital opposition voice to Labour in our city.”
Councillor Steve Davis, the official leader of the Green opposition on the council, said: “Marina is the absolute epitome of hard work and passion and would make an excellent councillor for Queen’s Park.
“Given this is the sixth by-election the administration has landed on residents in two years, Queen’s Park residents have the opportunity to vote for someone who will stay the distance and represent them with real passion.”
Brighton and Hove Green Party said: “Labour is abandoning our city. This is the sixth local council by-election in Brighton and Hove in two years, all of which have been caused by resignations of Labour councillors.
“This is the second in Queen’s Park alone, with both Labour councillors elected in 2023 now having stepped down.
“Voters across the country are abandoning Labour – and in Queen’s Park we’ve already been hearing on the doorstep that people are putting their trust in us as the only bold and necessary alternative.
“Marina and the Green Party will be fighting this election to work hard, speak up and get things done for our communities which have been let down by a Labour-run council that refuses to speak out for our city or stand up to Keir Starmer’s shameful leadership.
“While Labour councillors are too scared to challenge their own government, Greens will never stop speaking up for local people.
“Marina, who works as a teacher and researcher, lives locally and has worked in the ward. Marina is an active campaigner, having fought previously for housing and land reform, as well as supporting neurodiverse communities and charities.
“Labour have shown they cannot be trusted to put the people of Brighton and Hove first.
“The Green Party are the only party offering a real answer: introduce a wealth tax on the top 1 per cent and take on destructive corporations like Southern Water so that we can invest in a city that ordinary people can actually afford.
Marina will speak up for every resident, fight for improvements to basics such as bin collections, social housing and playgrounds, push back against Brighton College’s endless expansion, call for rent controls to bring down spiralling rents, demand action on protecting trans and disabled rights and an end to complicity in genocide.”
Already seeing a lot of Green posters going up around Queen’s Park
Yes you can fool a lot of people quite a lot of the time, with the progressive green agenda.
Having seen Caroline Lucas on BBC Newsnight recently I regret voting for her.
as an aside and off topic be sure to check out and read carefully a petition on the official uk government and parliament petition page…repeal the online safety act…it currently has 524,884, signatures…it can be signed and reshared widely from all over the uk
I haven’t seen the word Gaza once. Perhaps, at last, a candidate who cares more for what’s happening in her constituency rather than a land 3000 miles away.
It’s not the land 3,000 miles away that’s the issue, it’s the fact our country and taxes are supporting a genocide
Please, don’t be just another useful idiot. Try a little critical thinking, perhaps? It’s a wonderful feeling. I
These are clearly issues people feel very strongly about, and a wider national discussion is needed. But I think Alison’s right that, in a local election, residents also want to know what’s happening on their doorstep, where a councillor can actually deliver change, because a Ward Councillor has next to no influence on that particular topic.
I think each resident is different. I certainly have my share of local issues to contend with too. And it would be nice if the next elected councillor responded to my occasional emails about my local issues, namely ASB, because none of the QP Labour councillors have.
But this genocide is the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed (livestreamed). So, while I don’t wish to detract from the actual Palestinian victims of the genocide, for many of us across the world, it is taking a huge toll on our mental health too.
My mind and body is here in the Brighton in the Queen’s Park Ward. It would be a delight to have just one of my representatives sharing my opinion that the UK Government is complicit. It may even help a little with my mental health. So I think, from that perspective, it is a local issue.
That’s a very balanced take, and I respect the way you’ve articulated that, Robert. Being responsive absolutely has to be #1 for any Ward Councillor, in my opinion.
In my experience, ASB is a tricky one to untangle because when it reaches legal routes, it’s often inappropriate for a WC to comment or intervene further. That causes a lot of frustration, quite understandably. Personally, I do think other things could be used earlier on, so at least there is a timely early intervention, because I think “nip it in the bud” is an excellent mentality to have around ASB.
Regarding Gaza, I think it is fair to want both: a councillor who recognises how global issues affect residents with the grounding factor that they have little sway in affecting it, but also one who delivers on the day-to-day problems we face in Queen’s Park.
Oh, it’s in her campaign leaflet.
FFS 🙄
Do not vote for them, never forget the mess they left us in. Shockingly conceited bunch, totally unelectable. Greens are hard left socialists who waste our money on idealogical nonsense instead of what matters to locals. Do not be fooled, do not vote Green
Loving the lack of content in your post and am always staggered people forget, or don’t seem to realise, that for the majority of the last 20-30 years it’s been a Labour run council, not Green. In fact for the majority of the last 10 years the council has been run by Labour.
Not sure what you mean by unelectable either, Greens have and do get elected – here and elsewhere (more so as the disappointment around Labour grows nationally). You not liking policies or individuals is your own opinion, but “unelectable” doesn’t make sense in the context you are using it in.
It’s mainly been a hung council, more accurately.👍
I wouldn’t worry too much about her rhetoric, Cathy. She’s never been one to carry an argument beyond an inflammatory opening. Maybe today she will prove us wrong? 🤷
Kemptownresident – unsure why you seem to think they are a woman but that’s your privilege Benjamin. The definition of “unelectable” is “not likely to be chosen by the people that are voting in an election”, which KTResident is entitled to have as their point of view. The facts are that the Greens were very difficult to reason with and created a lot of ill feeling from the electorate during their time in power and we all know what happened to the Greens that election. Labour are pretty dire as well, candidates are very low calibre from Labour as always
Unelectable doesn’t really fit the history: both Labour and the Greens do keep getting elected locally, sometimes strongly, sometimes less so, depending on the cycle. That’s just how democracy works.
Of course she is entitled to her opinion, just like I am entitled to call it out for not really being based on anything.
So another young Green activist apparently more interested in activism, and a career in politics, rather than serving the needs of residents.
I see that her party has now given up trying to get pro-cycling activist Mark Strong elected in this ward.
I mean, to be fair, I think local community activism can be a powerful tool to serve the needs of residents, and sometimes the platform of the ward councillor allows you to serve that from a much more effective position.
As long as that activism is directly associated with the needs of the residents electing you, and not when the councillor ignores them and concentrates on their own pet objectives.
This applies to councillors of all parties as we have seen many times in the past.
Reasonable take.
Does Brighton need another young councillor from the hard left who has, essentially, never left school?
We certainly don’t need any from the hard right who has, essentially, never left fantasy, lol.
It would be a fantasy to be able to make sense of your comment Benjamin. At least it amused you. I do not begrudge anyone a smile now and again.
Well, sounds like this candidate’s professional qualification might be for you then! I do enjoy our back and forths, it is true.
Very unkind comments. She has a good track record. What is wrong with being young and having ideals? Better than being old and cynical.
Nothing wrong with being young and idealistic in my opinion. And it is a classic Green candidate. Unfortunately, that has also translated into a lot of administrative mistakes and vanity projects over the years.
If the Greens were that bad Benjamin, why on earth did your party beg them to take over the city when they fell apart in 2020? Doesn’t that make Labour look totally irresponsible?
Simple. Because in 2020, Brighton faced a council in chaos after the Tories imploded, and the Greens had just enough councillors to steady the administration. Labour had to choose between either supporting a minority Green administration or leaving the city leaderless.
Since then, Labour has won a majority precisely because residents wanted stability and delivery. That’s the difference between tactical necessity in 2020 and the reality of the majority of 2023.
Yet another candidate who has never had a real job and lives in a green echo chamber🤦♂️
The ‘never had a real job’ line gets wheeled out every election. Surely we can do better than clichés?
Is teaching not a real job then? (Maybe you haven’t had the benefit of an education?)
We remember the hated LTN that the greens tried to impose.
We remember their refusal to listen to residents while rubbish piled up, graffiti everywhere while roads and pavements crumbled.
I hope Queens Park residents keep the greens out.