Former mayor of Brighton and Hove dies aged 82

A former mayor of Brighton and Hove and long-serving Labour councillor, Brian Fitch, has died at the age of 82.

Mr Fitch, an honorary alderman, had also served as mayor Brighton before the merger that created what is now Brighton and Hove City Council.

His most recent year as mayor – with his wife Norah by his side as mayoress – was the swansong of a 40-year political career.

He was first elected to the old Brighton Borough Council in the early 1970s, representing Elm Grove.

He later represented Hanover, then Hollingbury. He also spent ten years as a member of East Sussex County Council.

After losing his seat on the council in 2007, when the Conservatives became the largest party in Brighton and Hove, he refused to be beaten.

He campaigned in Hangleton and Knoll, having moved to Holmes Avenue, in Hove. And he took a seat from the Tories at the local elections in 2011 even as his party lost ground to the Greens.

The Brighton-born councillor served as mayor of Brighton in 1989-90 and as mayor of Brighton and Hove in 2014-15.

On being selected to be mayor a second time, he said: “I’m really excited. I look forward to promoting some of the ideals that have shaped my life and of course serving the people of the city.”

His father Stan and uncle Reg also served as Brighton councillors and his late brother Rod stood as a parliamentary candidate in Brighton Kemptown in 1983.