Brighton & Hove Green Party have overturned a 20% majority in the Goldsmid by-election, securing their eleventh seat on Brighton & Hove City Council.
Nadia Barton Ahmad, 22, came first with 2037 votes, beating the Labour candidate, Philip Berman, who finished second with 1357 votes.
Green supporters celebrated outside the election count at Hove Town Hall upon the result being announced, after an electrifying and hard-fought campaign that concluded on the hottest day of the year. This result gives the party their eleventh member on the council, and reduces Labour’s ranks to thirty-three.
This by-election result marks the party’s second by-election win over Labour in nine months, following the Greens’ triumph last September in Queen’s Park, and once again proves the Green Party’s momentum is here to stay for next year’s city-wide local elections.
Nadia, a community campaigner who lives locally, ran on a platform that included protecting green spaces, standing up for small businesses and fighting to make streets safer. Voters rejected Labour’s failures and instead chose to place their trust in a local voice who already works hard for the local area, and who will work even harder as a councillor.
Speaking at the count, Goldsmid’s newly elected Councillor Barton Ahmad said: “Today, the people of Goldsmid have placed their trust in me, and I am deeply grateful and humbled to have been elected as their Green councillor.
Throughout this campaign, I have listened to residents from every corner of Goldsmid. People spoke about the pressures they are facing, from the rising cost of living and poor housing conditions to concerns about local services and the state of our streets. Others spoke about uncertainty, instability, and a growing sense that too many people are being left behind. These conversations have stayed with me and will shape my work as a councillor.
They are also a reminder that politics matters because people’s lives matter.
As your councillor, I will work tirelessly to ensure that voices are heard and concerns are acted upon. I’ll fight for safe and affordable homes, properly funded public services, thriving green spaces, and a community where everyone feels they belong and no one is left behind.”
Councillor Steve Davis, the Green Leader of the Opposition on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: “This result shows that our vision and Nadia’s vision for our city is one shared by residents in Goldsmid. It’s also clear that people here know that Labour isn’t working for Brighton & Hove and that different shades of red at the top won’t change that. In Nadia, people are getting an absolute dynamite local advocate who will run through walls to stand up for them.
As someone who understands the challenges to the young people in our city – from spiralling rents to gig economy jobs to the climate breakdown – she brings fresh and experienced eyes to the issues that blight our future generations.
Ultimately, Labour has a choice over the next ten months: bury their heads in the sand as their party keeps forcing cuts, complicity and scandals on Goldsmid and our city, or face the prospect of a sweep of Green councillors like Nadia at the local elections next year offering a fresh start for Brighton & Hove with the Green Party.”