Five candidates are standing in a by-election in Queen’s Park ward for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) next Thursday (24 September).
The seat became vacant when former Labour councillor Milla Gauge resigned.
The five candidates are Stefan Speckesser (Conservative), Mark Strong (Green), Steve Gladwin (Labour), Rüdiger Dikty-Daudiyan (Liberal Democrat) and John Shepherd (Reform UK).
Each candidate has answered questions about local issues and why electors should vote for them.
Here are the responses from John Shepherd, 65, a freelance journalist.
Why do you want to be a councillor?
I want to be a force for good, root out wasteful spending and restore residents’ faith by changing politics for good after years of political mismanagement in our city – most recently by Labour and Green administrations.
As it is, the council overlooks the real needs of residents in favour of pursuing political ideologies and vanity projects which do nothing to enhance the lives of the good people of Brighton and Hove.
As a Reform councillor I will challenge the status quo and put the needs of our community back at the heart of local government.
Why do you want to stand in this ward?
Queen’s Park needs a councillor that represents residents’ views and not someone who will quit after a short time in the job – unlike the previous three Labour councillors.
I first stood in the ward last year and residents have welcomed my renewed commitment.
The outgoing Labour councillor felt she had no choice but to quit after her Labour colleagues refused to let her raise concerns, not least about children questioning their gender, schools guidance and involvement of external organisations.
As a Reform councillor, I will not be cowed from raising and scrutinising all issues of concern.
What are the key issues specific to this ward?
Despite Labour and Green promises, litter and anti-social behaviour still blight Queen’s Park.
There is no end in sight to escalating housing problems and desperation when it comes to contacting the council for help.
As residents now face even higher council tax bills because of Labour’s maladministration, I will shine a light on waste and help residents fight back.
It’s time for change. A vote for me is a vote to reject Labour’s spending on “net-zero” and political vanity projects.
Queen’s Park issues I will tackle include addressing the needs of the community, our schools, families and the elderly.
Falling birth rates are affecting pupil numbers in primary and secondary schools. How should this issue be managed?
A report to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Schools Forum in June 2025 showed a deficit of nearly £3 million at the end of 2024-25.
But our Labour-led council is shedding crocodile tears on funding because it is the Labour government in Westminster that has piled on the financial pressure for school and council budgets with decisions such as the rise in national insurance.
For 2026-27, the council has said its capital investment in schools will be £1.4 million while “sustainability and carbon reduction” will get £4.7 million and “tackling inequality” will get £12.6 million. These priorities over schools are madness.
Temporary and emergency housing is a huge cost to the council. What measures should be taken to reduce this cost?
I continue to believe that council-owned land is ultimately owned by residents of Brighton and Hove – and that should be prioritised for building affordable local housing.
Earlier this year, the council said it was reviewing its portfolio of land, property and other assets but I’ve yet to hear concrete results.
I am open to hearing about innovative ideas that can regenerate our city while also boosting social housing as a priority.
We need to be more ambitious, such as the proposals from a future Reform UK government to deliver an additional 50,000 new affordable homes every year.
How would you improve and maintain roads in the ward?
Astonishingly, Queen’s Park is not listed for any resurfacing or micro-asphalt treatment in the council’s 2026-27 programme.
Only Craven Road is in the tender stage for potential machine patching, including pothole‑related repairs.
I would work with residents on an action list of repairs needed – including pavement damage and footpath hazards.
I would campaign for a fairer share of funding and scrutinise progress of reports already filed with the council.
According to a road maintenance league table published by the Department for Transport this year, Brighton and Hove received an “amber” rating for its “mixed or consistently weaker” performance.
Given the reasons for the by-election, what steps will you take to ensure the council complies with its legal obligations to protect children including those who may be confused about their gender?
Councillor Gauge’s resignation statement was clear evidence that her cry for help and efforts to address concerns of worried parents and others were rebuffed.
Labour has sought to distance the council from the fallout of the WellBN investigation for ideological reasons and political expediency.
There should be a wider, transparent examination by the council of all services, partnerships and arrangements for which it has direct and indirect involvement.
An independent safeguarding review is needed. Parents must be informed about gender-related issues involving their children in school. School guidance relating to gender issues should also be reviewed.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. Valid photographic ID is required to vote.
Ah, so he’s the kind of person who misrepresents issues to advance his own political agenda, particularly since he’s trying to use WellBN as a platform, despite Reform PLC having the worst track record of any party, showing clear disdain for transgender and curious individuals.
Reform holds a strongly opposed stance on transgender rights, characterising its platform as a rejection of what it terms “woke” ideology and “transgender indoctrination.” The party’s manifesto includes pledges to ban transgender ideology, prohibiting gender questioning, social transitioning, and pronoun swapping.
John here has chosen to represent an extremely nasty company all-round.
Wrong Benjamin. Child safeguarding has NOTHING to do with transgender rights, which come under ADULT protected characteristics. A child is a child under the law and needs to be protected from all types of grooming and “conversion therapy” – rightly considered abhorrent when applied to gay adults.
Children have an absolute right to be allowed to go through all the normal phases and growing pains of growing up and personal identity experimentation, unmolested by dodgy “activist” adults, physically or psychologically. It is a time of confusion and hormonal chaos for ALL youngsters while they work out who they are. That’s normal. Even Victoria Gillick was outraged that her name was used to manufacture the child groomer’s excuse of “Gillick consent” and without her actual consent!
The Tavistock clinic is now inundated with lawsuits from twentysomethings who were encouraged to take fertility killing drugs or castrate themselves as youngsters, only to grow up and find that they were actually gay or lesbian. Or even autistic. This is a horrific state of affairs and some have committed suicide when they realise there is no going back and what’s done is done. WellBN, take note. You’ll be next in facing similar lawsuits.
Incorrect. If safeguarding children has nothing to do with transgender rights, Adrian Hart would be out of a job, and he’s very adamant that safeguarding is very important when it transgender curious children and young people – and I agree with him.
A child is a child under the law, except for the times when they are not considered a child under the law, so even on this point, you are inaccurate. Absolutism denies nuance, and individual circumstances, and applies a broad stroke to every single person. What a dehumanising stance to have, Tracy.
I’m glad we have people like Adrian and Julia, even if I disagree with their methodology, rather than you Tracy, when it comes to advocating safeguarding of children. You’re dangerously ignorant when it comes to detail.
I’m not sure if he has said what he thinks about the dodgy £5 million Farage got from Harbourne – or the further £72 Million from the very overseas types Harbourne and Delo. Do we really want billionaires with no shared interests with the average voter to be twisting out politics like this?
Considering the two £72m was donated by Cyptoboys, guess which one of their only proposed policies are the most fully fleshed out and who would give massive breaks to?
But Labour Unions mass donations are ok, hey?
Whataboutism is a terrible deflection argument, just admits that you agree with me and Dan here. It’s also just a really poor argument, especially from a experienced Ward Councillor who should know better.
£72 million from just two individuals in 48 hours. Labour’s union funding comes from millions of individual members contributing small amounts through democratic processes. Union donations reflect collective decisions by members who pay affiliation fees and vote on political spending. Individual billionaire donations represent unilateral decisions by single actors.
They are not remotely the same.
The funding may come from union members but the political leaders of the unions influence the labour party. In the end it is the same.
No child should ever be given sex change hormones or sex change surgery. Anyone carrying out these treatments should face life imprisonment. Any parent who takes their child overseas for the same should also face the same charge.
Life imprisonment – have you thought this through?
Indeed. And I would advocate that it be one life sentence per victim.
Personally, I think it should be treated the same as FGM. I remember growing up and being confused and ignorant just like most teenagers. We were swarming hot-pots of hormones and influences. Some may call it indoctrination but I was encouraged to develop the tools to understand myself and others; to examine problems and come up with solutions; to analyse, digest and cogitate and reflect. There was a lot of trial and error but it was fulfilling and interesting even downright dangerous. It taught me to be thoughtful and philosophical whilst (hopefully) being a commited and useful member of Society.
I think FGM and GD are very different things, I would respectfully say you absolutely shouldn’t treat those the same way. Even cases of GD are pretty unique in their circumstances, so treating them in a similar fashion each time comes with a ton of challenges.