Five candidates have been nominated to stand in the Queen’s Park by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
They are
- Rüdi Dikty-Daudiyan – Liberal Democrat
- Steve Gladwin – Labour
- John Shepherd – Reform UK
- Stefan Speckesser – Conservative
- Mark Strong – Green
Polling day is on Thursday 24 September, with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm.
The by-election is the third in the two-member ward since the local elections in May 2023 and the eighth in Brighton and Hove in that time, all caused by the resignation of former Labour councillors.
The latest by-election was called after Labour councillor Milla Gauge resigned over safeguarding concerns, saying that the council was not doing enough to protect children questioning their gender identity.
After the local elections, Labour had 38 out of the 54 seats. It now has 31. The Greens had seven but now have 11, including a former Labour councillor who became an Independent before switching to the Greens.
Two councillors elected as Labour candidates at the 2023 local elections now sit as Independents – as does one former Conservative.
A hustings is due to take place at St Luke’s Church Hall on Thursday 17 September from 7pm to 8.30pm. The chance to put questions to the candidates has been organised by the non-political St Luke’s Residents’ Association.
Bella’s ‘Operation Black Vote’ is going well, I see. How much taxpayer’s money did she waste on that empty virtue signalling – £83,000?
Five candidates and, remarkably, five white men.
In a ward as wonderfully diverse as Queen’s Park, one might have hoped our political parties could have produced a field that looked a little more like the community they are seeking to represent.
Diversity, it seems, is much easier to put in a leaflet than on a ballot paper.
Four white men, and bottom right, a ferret!
Charlie! Really.
One hesitates to reduce local democracy to The Wind in the Willows, but now you mention it, I can rather see a Badger, a Mole, a Water Rat and perhaps a particularly ambitious Toad among them.
Haha very funny!
Of course we have had three lost labour candidates, the two family members, very unusual those selections, people parashooted into the ward with no real local connection, this has been a reoccurring problem, I would say cross party.
I recently did an FOI to Brighton and Hove city council asking them the birth places of the cities councillors, confirmation of every local connection. They didn’t not hold that information.
If you are homeless you cannot get on the housing register unless you have lived here for 5 of 7 years.
Maybe it’s time to have a similar policy, councillors should have lived in the ward 5 of or the last 7 years to be eligible for standing.
Dare I say this but the Tories have been the best for recruiting Brighton and Hove councillors who were born and raised. Pity there policies were bad. The city never really recovered from their cabinet and I expect the debt this labour cabinet has put through will cost this city for a generation to come.
Saying that divided parties can still win.