Voting is under way in the Queen’s Park by-election for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
Polling stations were due to open at 7am and close at 10pm today (Thursday 18 September).
Six candidates are standing. They are Simon Charleton (Labour), Sunny Choudhury (Conservative), Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan (Liberal Democrat), Adrian Hart (Independent), Marina Lademacher (Green) and John Shepherd (Reform UK).
The seat became vacant when Labour councillor Tristram Burden resigned, citing a conflict of interest in his new job as a local authority inspector at the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It is the second by-election in the two-member ward since the local elections in May 2023.
Just over a year ago Milla Gauge held the seat for Labour after Chandni Mistry resigned.
The polling stations are at
- Craven Vale Resource Centre, Craven Road, Brighton
- St Luke’s Church, Queen’s Park Road, Brighton
- Barnard Community Centre, St John’s Mount, Mount Pleasant
- Millwood Community Centre, Nelson Row, Carlton Hill
Electors planning to vote in person must bring photo identification (ID).
The count is due to take place at Hove Town Hall tomorrow, starting at 10am, with the result expected at about lunchtime.
I wonder if this by-election will be a litmus test for parties for the locals?
“Litmus test”? That is a naff and stupid rhetoric.. every election is a test and obviously in a bye election ever more so…and with 5 (or 6 if you count the spoilt ballots or 7 if count non-voters) candidates on a range of issues the chances are it will not prove anything definitely other than someone gets elected… even the red/blue element of the literal actual test tells nothing but that it was red or blue
Well, considering the result, it turned out to be a pretty sharp and accurate litmus test after all! The Green swing shows how the mood is shifting locally.
By-elections tend to mark a moment of anger – rather than the longer term view.
But we do know there’s a lot of frustration and anger in the world right now.
Let’s hope that there was a good turnout, and that apathy didn’t win the day.
I suspect it will be an all-time low turnout unfortunately.