Reform UK has selected a 23-year-old pilot and aviation news business owner to stand for the party in the Goldsmid by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Reform said: “We are pleased to announce the selection of Luke Willmoth as our candidate for the upcoming local by-election in Goldsmid ward, to be held on Thursday 25 June.
“Luke brings a strong commitment to serving the community, with a focus on listening to local residents and addressing the issues that matter most to them.
“Luke is keen to engage the youth vote, ensuring younger voices are heard and represented in local decision-making.
“The by-election on Thursday 25 June presents an important opportunity for residents of all ages to have their voices heard and Luke looks forward to engaging with voters across the area in the weeks ahead.”
The party said that Mr Willmoth was the founder and chief executive of an aviation news and travel media platform, producing content dedicated to airlines, airports and the wider aviation industry – and attracting more than 62 million impressions a month.
He said: “I’m a proud Brighton resident standing for Reform UK in the Goldsmid by-election because I care deeply about our community and the future of our city.
“Brighton and Hove is the best city in England but too many local issues have been ignored for too long.
“Goldsmid deserves a councillor who understands the area, listens to residents and stands up for our community. After years of Labour neglect, it’s time for a fresh approach. It’s time for Reform.
“I care strongly about protecting community facilities and making sure local people have a stronger voice in the decisions affecting the area.
“As a younger candidate, I want to show that people from my generation can step forward, get involved and help bring positive change to local politics with fresh ideas and a practical approach. Brighton and Hove is broken and residents deserve better.”
The by-election was called after the resignation of Jackie O’Quinn who served for 11 years. She was first elected as a Labour councillor in 2015, quitting the party earlier this year before stepping down from the council four weeks ago.
Reforms approach to local government is interesting. So far they have been able to ban the flying of the rainbow flag, banished the solidarity flying of the Ukraine flag, insisted on saying the Lords Prayer and singing of the national anthem before meetings whilst hiring “advisors” at public expense and increased Council tax.
Meanwhile at Farage Towers, the £5m donation from overseas is being put to good use to help wildlife – feathering nests? No wonder he needs security.
This is just a taster of what’s to come if you don’t vote against this crowd of chancers!
I hear he previously stood for Labour. I wonder what changed his mind.
It’s all very well for people to smear a new party Ann, but more constructive to ask why that new party has come into being and risen so quickly in the first place.
If the current parties are failing the electorate to the point the electorate are choosing a new party, they should be looking to themselves for the reasons we live in ‘Broken Britain’, not blaming the new party, who weren’t even there! It pains me to say this as a former Labour voter but Labour are so out of touch and incapable of introspection and reading the room, it’s embarrassing. Starmer has recently pumped out enough half-baked new legislation to make a dictator proud, and even more scandalously, used the King to do his bidding, when the King is supposed to be politically neutral. Enough is enough. The whole country is being nailed to the ground and most people can see it and feel it. They are literally desperate for something different, so maybe it’s time to raise a glass to something different and give it a chance.
I find that very interesting, considering that you engage in regular smearing, usually from bandwagoning. Let’s also remind ourselves that Reform, that used to be the Brexit Party, took a lot of their DNA from UKIP. Hermes changed their name to Evri, but they still lose packages every other day.
Even this latest comment of yours, it still disingenuously attempts to smear another party, and argumentum ad novitatem is not a logical or compelling argument, because we have plenty of examples of choosing “the devil we don’t know” has never, globally, resulted in a better outcome. Most obvious example. The convicted felon, Donald Trump, President of the United States.
Are you denying that Starmer used the King to bulk-pass 37 pieces of new legislation in one day, Benjamin? How is that acceptable on any level, legally or constitutionally? Not a smear. It was on television, and for many last gasp Labourites, it was the last straw. It showed once and for all that democracy is dead under Labour. Just in case Starmer’s previous attempt to cancel local elections was not proof enough. Dragging the King into disrepute with him is next level and risks the Royal family’s continued reign too.
No, he didn’t, again – you’re proving my assessment of you bandwagoning without insight, then proceeding to smear based on that ignorance. It is something I’ve noticed myself and others are frequently calling you out for. The King’s Speech outlines the government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming session. It announces the current government’s intention to introduce new bills. There’s no “bulk-passing” involved, that is a simple misunderstanding of how The King’s Speak works.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10818/
There was no Brexit party. It never existed. Brexit was an anti-EU movement for those who were disenfranchised and never had a say on EEC/EU membership. Get your facts right.
The Brexit Party does, and still exists, however, they rebranded in 2020, to Reform UK. They didn’t get a say on Brexit because out of the 273 candidates they stood in the 2019 elections, none of them got a seat, and they walked away with only 2% of the vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_UK
No Brexit Party? I remember the ballot paper. Definitely a Reform candidate listed
Jesus pot kettle comes to mind when it comes to the lack of knowledge about the notorious green tiled pub
Not really green tiled anymore after he destroyed listed features without permission and is currently trying to take more money away from Brighton taxpayers with his regular nonsense and constant actions to try to circumvent responsibility, is it?
No record anywhere of Luke standing for any party at any election at any time.
Wrong. There are multiple sources of Luke standing for Labour in the Endlebury ward in Waltham Forest in 2022.
https://www.nelondoner.co.uk/news/05052022-waltham-forest-local-election-results-2022
https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/local.waltham-forest.endlebury.2022-05-05/endlebury/
https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/every-candidate-standing-waltham-forest-23827279
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Waltham_Forest_London_Borough_Council_election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Waltham_Forest_London_Borough_Council_election
Listed as standing for Endlebury ward for Labour and polling 794 votes.
Very electable. An individual with the brains, guts and energy to fight for their community. I wish him well.
Define electable please.
Seems to have stood for Labour in Waltham Forest in 2022, so about as fixed politically as he is geographically.
Complete chancer, perchance?
Feels like a paper candidate to me.
Hopefully, he will be able to explain Nige’s £5 million crypto bro donation as Nige himself is unable to do so.
Goldsmid is a Labour / Green battle – we all know this. Good luck to him and to any candidate who is prepared to put there name out there regardless of political party. It always amazes me the keyboard warriors who throw insults and accusations. Grow up and give the man a chance
Not a single insult has been thrown towards this candidate in these comments so far. The geographic disloyalty is a reasonable point, alongside an extremely generic pitch (you could put that on any candidate, and it’d still functionally work). These suggest that this isn’t a serious candidate, but a sacrificial one to test the waters.
Good luck Luke ! when you get in, don’t let the other councillors grind you down – please bring fresh eyes and ideas to this community.
This election is become a complete joke……
Good luck Luke. A much needed breath of fresh air among a decided vanilla line up. The trouble with playing it that safe is that they get elected to become part of the problem rather than sort the problems out.
Interesting to note that the Conservative, Green and Reform candidates are all young people getting political experience. I put the Greens’ chances of success as low as Goldsmid Ward has a large Jewish population. I think Reform could do quite well.
” Locally listed ” and how could he destroy something that was broken ? Also enlighten me why the council have withdrawn the enforcement notice from 2022 hmmm
Irrelevant to that building; local listing still needs planning permission for alteration. Charlie Southall took valuable – unbroken – 150 year old historic green faize tiles and is now replacing them with cheap replicas. Charlie then smashed off the tiles without permission in 2022 after he attempted to take advantage of the Ukrainian refugee crisis as justification to spend resident’s own money to the tune of £85,000 to fund renovations.
Enforcement notice was withdrawn because the council did not follow due process in the legal action; otherwise it should have been a clear decision on what many clearly see as retributive vandalism as he had not obtained the required permissions and only started doing that when his motives, quite rightly, were questioned.
Maybe he should have stuck to photography?
Do you actually belive what you write ? Have you seen the report that shows the tiles were cracked in multiple places, holes in many leading to water damage internally ? And as for the enforcement notice jesus you really have no clue. Ever thought they withdrew it because they were wrong to stop him ?
The inspectorate was very clear that it was a procedural error. Anyway, that’s ad lapidem reasoning, and doesn’t excuse or explain the law breaking or the morally ambiguous motivations of trying to use displaced refugees to make money from the taxpayers and residents of the area.
Anyway, we’re getting very tangential to this article, so I’m going to stop here.
You really do have no clue so good idea you stop
Finally, a Reform candidate for this by-election! Happy days!
I find it astonishing how so many complain about how things are, how they’ve been bad for a while, all under Labour and Green’s watch and yet will still only consider voting red or green and then wonder why they get more of the same!
Maybe this young man did stand for Labour in the past, he wouldn’t be the first person to change camps, perhaps he opened his mind to something different, maybe it’s time for Brighton do the same?