The Green Party has picked a community campaigner to stand in the latest Queen’s Park by-election.
Mark Strong, 64, an active travel consultant, hopes to repeat the success of his party colleague Marina Lademacher, 29, who won a seat previously held by Labour in September last year.
And the Greens were buoyed more recently when Nadia Barton Ahmad, 22, won a by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council in Goldsmid ward. Labour had won the seat at the local elections in 2023.
The Greens said: “Queen’s Park residents will be heading to the polls for the fourth time in as many years after the third resignation from a Labour councillor since the 2023 local elections.
“Mark Strong, an active travel consultant, brings an extensive history of local action and community representation.
“He has consistently stood up for Queen’s Park and the wider area, with experience already of holding the council to account as a scrutiny committee co-optee and member of the council’s Transport Partnership.
“Until July 2026, he had served for many years as the elected transport and public realm representative for Brighton and Hove Community Works.
“The Green Party is hopeful that residents will place their trust in Mark to represent them on Brighton and Hove City Council.
“This latest by-election follows last September’s win in Queen’s Park which saw one of the biggest swings in the council’s history and, more recently, the election of Nadia Barton Ahmad to represent the people of Goldsmid just six weeks ago.
“With this summer expected to be the hottest on record, Mark’s history as a climate activist will resonate with residents who are understandably worried about the impact of climate change on our green spaces, especially Queen’s Park and Valley Gardens.
“Additionally, Mark has recently been campaigning alongside Councillor Marina Lademacher and local residents for a safer crossing of Freshfield Road.
“After many years of Green pressure, the council has now started to design the crossing. Greens say they will continue to press to make sure it’s finally built.
“This by-election will be the 8th since Labour took control of the council, all of which have been caused by councillors elected for Labour resigning well before completing their terms of office.”
The by-election follows the resignation of Labour councillor Milla Gauge, 48, who won her seat in a by-election in May 2024 after the resignation of Chandni Mistry.
Miss Mistry was just 19 when she was elected as a Labour councillor in May 2023 but the party expelled her and her mother and fellow councillor Bharti Gajjar a few months before they stepped down.
Concerns were raised that they lived in Leicester not Brighton – something that they both denied.
Mr Strong said: “I’m so proud to be selected as the Green candidate for Queen’s Park. It’s the third by-election here since 2023 and residents deserve better than a revolving door of Labour representatives.
“I’m ready to step up and fight hard for the community where I live and work, building on my existing experience as a trusted advocate for our communities.
“People in Queen’s Park, and across the city, don’t have to put up with being ignored. I’m committed to always standing up for the climate, for community groups and small businesses and, above all, for the residents of Queen’s Park.”
The Green opposition leader on the council, Steve Davis, said: “Mark is a community champion in every sense of the term and already has a wealth of experience holding Labour to account. I know that he’ll stand up for residents who’ve been failed by Labour.
Councillor Davis added: “We scored a huge victory last time around in Queen’s Park and, given the hard work and effort that Councillor Marina Lademacher has shown, we’d love residents to entrust Mark as their representative.”
1. Where does he stand on Park and Ride schemes, which the Greens have historically opposed?
2. What does he think about the £51 Million in losses incurred by the i360 scheme, which the Greens supported the public funding of?
and the conservatives supported i360
Mark Strong’s consultancy company Transport Initiatives does a lot of contract work for Brighton and Hove City Council.
This is clearly a major conflict of interests and Mr Strong would appear to be a conflicted candidate who is unsuitable to stand.
We cannot have another situation where a Green Councillor awards contracts to his own company as happened with a previous Green Councillor- pre the last local elections.
Well let’s hope if he gets in he does stick to his words ( experience holding Labour to account ) which is very rare.
hold them accountable is very lacking within the Green Party.
They seem to remain silent on many issues that effect Brighton and Hove City Council residents and tenants, start being an opposition party and holding them accountable for their failings.
Holding the leadership at Brighton & hove City Council accountable, according to the law and the council’s own policies would be a good start and definitely a vote winner for most residents.
At the moment that is wilfully lacking from the Greens in this City.
They seem like an extension of the Brighton Labour Party. There is only one or two of their counsellors that ever put a good argument forward, the rest sit on the fence or do nothing.
I would suggest the Brighton Green Party make some changes and takes a more robust action on wrongdoing in the organisation .
Particularly the misuse of public funds like Bob Heale says above the i 360 and many other high profile issues where money was wasted even though the organisation knew they have 1% chance of being successful like Montreal Arms (The court found the council’s decision to pursue the case to be “starkly improper” and ordered them to pay £11,475.60 in costs to the developer).
That did not include the legal fees which would be in in the hundreds of thousands of pounds the council would have had to of paid.
Let’s all hope Mark Strong does hold them accountable along with his colleagues and puts an end to this type of waste of money. Imagine the libraries that could have been kept open or other services.
I’ve always liked the idea of steel tempers steel. Progressives should fundamentally get along.
Ironically it was the Green Party that pushed the i360 through with Conservative support. The Labour Party opposed it due to the dubious financial projections and risk to the city. Which is exactly what happened. You’re expecting a lot from green scrutiny when they are currently avoiding producing a report to the audit and standards committee that looks at this very matter. If they can’t be honest with themselves then I have no faith in them being a proper opposition or administration for that matter.
Shouldn’t it be “active-travel consultant” as an adjectival phrase to distinguish the three words from being taken as a travel consultant who is active? Perhaps, if elected, Mark Strong’s first campaign could be to save the hyphen. I am sure this would have fellow-cyclist cllr Sykes’s support and resonate nationally.
Is Cllr Sykes also a member of unelected pressure group Bricycles? It’s about time we faced facts. For the vast majority of those ABLE to cycle, it is just a fair weather hobby practiced for no more than a third of a year, not a daily commute. In fact if the wind is up, you won’t get most cyclists cycling on an otherwise good weather day.
Well let’s see if he sticks to holding them accountable that should be the easiest thing to do however the greens have not done that so far in any other area
Hopefully he will hold them accountable and encourage his colleagues to do so too as it is wilfully lacking at the moment accountability.
The nutters have all started crawling back out from under the skirting board….
Please Lord, don’t let the Greens get back in come next May
Cycle lanes, cycle lanes, i360, more cycle lanes, valley gardens roundabout, even more cycle lanes.
Don’t let the Greens in through the back door. All they ever say is, we are not Labour. They have no positive policies to talk about and will say nothing new here.
I take it you don’t ride a bike then, Katy?
I do ride a bike but there are many other considerations to running a city than vanity projects. The Greens failed miserably when last at the helm as the results in 2023 showed. I can’t see anything that has changed. Their recent crop of by-election candidates have only talked about the national Labour Party and nothing about what they will do for our city. Even now, they have switched to holding Labour locally to account. Still nothing on policy ideas or ways to improve our neighborhoods.
Is improving the safety of the roads by adding cycle lanes a vanity project?
Clear choice for Green candidates in Queens Park. I thought he was going to stand in the last one, honestly.
Mark’s a neighbour of mine and he’s a great guy, known by everyone and always been very nice. I understand he does a lot for the Queen’s Park community. As a QP resident, it is a bit ridiculous that this is the 2nd by-election in a year, although in some ways its worked out as the Green councillor elected last year Marina has been extremely active and helpful. I’ve been very impressed by her energy and am proud to have her as my councillor. I’m not a fan of what the Greens did in administration last time, but I for one am willing to give the new generation a shot.
Isn’t Marina a Councillor for Hanover and Elm Grove ward?
Mark Strong might be a good neighbour, but no one’s voting for him on that basis.
And since he is already getting his livelihood from the Council by making our lives a misery with his ill conceived and ablest “Active Travel” schemes, he’s got a cheek to stand.
Marina was elected to Queens Park in the last by-election, Tracy.
Looks like a mustelid
Mark is a smart and sensible man. His presence will moderate some of the not-so-smart and not-so-sensible Greens who are already on the council
Folks, you know this is the internet right? No one will read your asinine essays
As well as seeking a safe crossing in Freshfield Road, how about a pedestrian crossing clo
close to Buzz Bingo in Eastern Road. I have lost count of the number of times I have not caught a bus because of the steady unbroken stream of traffic, first in one direction then the other.
I agree. Plus the frequent blocking from the Brighton College coaches is something I frequently hear about.
A Green candidate that is a Travel Consultant.
A bit like having a Green councillor that is a driving instructor.
I expect to find next that they both have shares in Southern Water. You’ll never find more hypocrisy than a Green.
Hey their leader is a…ah, I see what you did there!
‘Active travel consultant’ will mean a one dimensional focus upon more cycle lanes leading to more congestion and a hugely disproportionate expenditure on a means of transport used by the minority. The ‘working from home’ for the council brigade will be delighted but those who support the real economy, less so.
A conflict of interests which prevents him standing as a Councillor candidate when he earns his money through designing Active Travel schemes for BHCC as a private consultant. He needs to withdraw.
Unlikely. Just needs to declare and recluse himself from any decision and discussion where a conflict might arise. Very normal procedure.
Not so much a ‘community campaigner’. More a hustler for major ‘Active Travel’ contracts which his own company designs for Brighton and Hove City Council. He is a current contractor/consultant and therefore needs to bow out owing to his vested interests. Clearly he has anything but honourable intentions in putting himself forward or he would not have done in light of his close business relationship with the council.
What is he a “community campaigner” for? Juicy contracts with the council? Who would stop him awarding council contracts to his own company like a previous Green Councillor was alleged to have done?
That would be part of his declarations of interests, should he be elected, Tracy. A very normal and standard procedure within councils across the country.