A former Labour councillor has joined the Greens almost a year after he quit his old party to become an Independent.
Bruno de Oliveira, who represents Hollingdean and Fiveways, has had his allegiance updated on the Brighton and Hove City Council website.
When he quit his former party, Councillor de Oliveira said in a resignation letter last February that his decision had been nothing to do with the local Labour group.
He said that they were decent, hard-working councillors.
Councillor de Oliveira said that he had joined Labour to fight inequality and poverty and in “disgust” at austerity policies.
But he was unhappy about Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s financial policies which, he said, would extend austerity and hurt public services.
In particular, he objected to aid budgets being cut to fund an increase in defence spending.
Councillor de Oliveira’s decision to join the Greens was welcomed by the former Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who also served as a member of Brighton and Hove City Council.
Mr Russell-Moyle switched to the Greens last November, having been suspended shortly before the general election in 2024, preventing him from being able to stand again to defend the seat that he won from the Conservatives in 2017.
He said that the complaint that led to his suspension dated from 2016 and was “vexatious and politically motivated”. An investigation found insufficient evidence to uphold the complaint.
Brighton and Hove Green Party said: “Bruno becomes the 10th current Green councillor on Brighton and Hove City Council, following the decisive Green by-election win in Queen’s Park last year.
“After three years of Labour majority administration and two years of a Labour majority government, one thing above all is becoming clear: people want change.
“Since September, more than 100,000 new members have joined the Green Party nationally, while each new poll shows the Greens climb higher while Labour drop lower.
“Locally, our membership has almost trebled and continues to grow every single day.
“Bruno is yet another example that more and more people who believe that change isn’t just possible but necessary are finding their political home in the Green Party.
“With just over a year to go to the 2027 local elections in our city, Labour must take note of the impact of their failure to represent the people of Brighton and Hove.
“Councillor de Oliveira was chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board on the council from his election as a Labour councillor for Hollingdean and Fiveways in May 2023 to his resignation from the Labour over their cuts to the aid budget.
“(He) brings a wealth of experience to the Green group of councillors on Brighton and Hove City Council.”
Councillor de Oliveira said: “I joined the Green Party because I refuse a politics that tells us we live on an island of strangers.
“The current system enriches a few while millions struggle, then it blames the most vulnerable in society to distract from rising inequality.
“Greens offer a hopeful alternative: a society built on peace, housing and affordability. The notion of neutrality can be misleading and naive.
“It is time for a change. It is time for economic justice. The idea that we have to deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it were, aims to prevent us from building a fairer society.
“Imagine someone telling Martin Luther King Jr to put his civil rights dreams away. A revolution starts with a mere dream of the world we want to live in, and not as it is, and I, like most of you, have a dream of a fairer society.”
Councillor Steve Davis, the Green leader of the opposition, said: “It is an absolute pleasure to have a councillor of the calibre of Bruno de Oliveira join our growing number of Green councillors in the chamber as he brings with him not only a wealth of experience but a genuine passion for the city.
“As we have seen up and down the country people aren’t leaving Labour, Labour are leaving people, and this is another clear indication that we are the party of real hope and real change.
“At full council next week, we welcome to the chamber what we hope is one of many more new Green councillors to represent the city and bring our shared ideas and hope.”
Naive. That said neither the Greens nor Labour have the first idea on how to generate wealth, only to take it from the middle class and then give it away in the least efficient way possible.
Tories proved over the past 14 years they don’t have the first clue how to generate wealth either so I think the lesson here is to maybe realise that unless you are mega rich, probably best to vote for someone that might have even a tiny effect on your life not some nonsense a bloke in fleet street goes on about.
So not mega rich, what’s important, free healthcare, decent roads, decent schools ect.
Greens can’t be trusted to run a bath let alone a small city as proven multiple times
The problem, and I think this applies to every party, is that to enact change, you have to repair the damage done by those who came before. You can’t build a house on shaky foundations, after all. But that is not sexy politics. Pragmatic is not exciting. Dreaming is not practical. Hope is weaponised impatience.
Bruno De Oliviera has always being a very moral candidate and his observations of the labour party continuing to support austerity policies causing him to resign was a brave move.
I wish him all the best in his new role for the green party
Good. That will give the Greens locally a lot more credibility. He’s a smart cookie.
Biggest surprise is that more Labour councillors haven’t jumped ship. How they can bear to stay with a party who have merged into the Tories is quite incredible imo.
Hardly lol. I think maybe your on the understanding that labour are some mad left with socialist group. They never have been and never will be (when in power) simply because the electoralect doesn’t want that. So they tend to be mega left wing when out of power. Same with the Tories, they lurch to the right, they get kicked out.
Yet so many say they will not vote for Labour ever again
Agreed with you here, Dave. Green is to Labour what Reform is to Conservatives. Pragmatism keeps both centred and constrained by reality.
Another watermelon Green then.
I wonder who he’ll be standing for this time next year?
Rumour was he was interested in YourParty; when they hosted a meeting in Brighton a few months ago, but they’ve kind of imploded with infighting around the national topics Oliviera cares mostly about.
Becoming an Independent because you dislike Labour nationally is one thing but then hop, skip and jumping to the Greens smacks of opportunism. Reality is, like Lloyd, you can’t get elected for a minor party. Bruno sees political survival with the Greens as does Lloyd, who arguably has more in common with ‘your party’ but his ego and bitterness can’t be sated there.
Whilst the Greens are benefiting nationally from, well, just not being Labour, they have nothing to say locally. Void of ideas, they will fall back on vanity issues like low traffic neighbourhoods and more cycle paths. Let’s not even go near the i360.
I suggest it’s better to keep a reasonable local Labour Council than risk the greens damaging our city again.
This is local politics.
comment of the day spot on.
What “reasonable” Local Labour council are you talking about?
I agree with you Katy, although I do see Oliviera fitting in with the Greens. I find his moral standpoints well articulated, but he tends to lack a healthy dose of pragmatism, which tracks with the party.
For example, he has spoken often about international politics, a stage which, as a Ward Councillor, he has no influence over, and is not within his elected remit or scope of practice. Taking his words at face value, he should want to gain a seat as an MP, but this move puts him potentially in direct competition with Russell-Moyle, a fight he would honestly have no chance of winning.
I agree with Benjamin that Bruno has been largely silent on local issues affecting our city. He left Labour over national issues to become independent, then Green.
The voters of Fiveways never voted for a Green councillor, so why should they have to endure this until 2027 or beyond.
The arguement against a by-election is the cost to the city. Perhaps this councillor should put that up since he is the one playing political musical chairs.
Let the people decide as this democrat has regularly cried.
Over to you Bruno or are you turning yellow.
He spoke a lot about libraries, disabilities, health watch and selling of local public assets. You haven’t got a clue about local politics. “Benjamin” is crab apple labour member. They’re worried and showing it. I bet he is loving it. The local facebook is full of national propaganda. some deleted after another, yet another U-turn. The local labour has no regard for their members or councillors. Did you see what they did with their last deputy mayor? Churchill changed political parties twice. I bet by you comment you love the goodie and oldie “British Bulldog.”
Crab apple is a new one, lol. Must mean something to the effect of being able to make coherent, logical thoughts without resorting to bottom-tier insults. Will add that to the list. Spensor might have an alternative opinion, considering the wall of AI slop he’s been posting the last few days.
Anyway, are you suggesting that complaints should not be investigated? And you should go read what I’ve said on Oliveria’s blog posts; as I said, I don’t dislike the guy at all, I just hold a different opinion on his politics.