Voters are due to quiz the candidates in the Queen’s Park by-election at a hustings this evening (Thursday 17 September), with just a week to go before polling day .
The event has been organised by St Luke’s Residents’ Association, a non-political organisation, and is due to take place at St Luke’s Church Hall, in Brighton.
Candidates have been invited to take part in the hustings from 7pm to 8.30pm. Entry is free.
There are five candidates standing for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council, with polling day set for Thursday 24 September.
The by-election is the third in the two-member ward since the local elections in May 2023 and was called after Labour councillor Mill Gauge resigned because of safeguarding concerns for gender-confused children.
The organisers said: “Come along and hear from the candidates standing in the council by-election.
“Each candidate will have five minutes to address the audience and then there will be questions from members to the candidates.”
They added that the event would be free and open to all local people but residents’ association members would be given precedence in the question and answer part of the meeting.
The residents’ association said that it was “easy to join – just a fiver and you can pay on the door!”
The five candidates are Rüdiger Dikty-Daudiyan, also known as Rüdi Dikty (Liberal Democrat), Steve Gladwin (Labour), John Shepherd (Reform UK), Stefan Speckesser (Conservative) and Mark Strong (Green).






