2 July 2024: The Green Party of Brighton & Hove warmly welcomes and thanks the many Labour voters and activists across the city who are joining us in voting or endorsing one or more of our three Green MP candidates: Sian Berry in Brighton Pavilion, Elaine Hills in Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven and Sophie Broadbent in Hove & Portslade.

Writer and influencer Owen Jones and former Labour Party member: “Vote for Elaine Hills in Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven.”

Other endorsements from former Labour supporters from within the city and across the UK for Elaine Hills include:

Pic: writer and former Labour Party member Owen Jones endorses Elaine Hills as Green MP candidate for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven

Rupert Wilkinson, Brighton & Hove Labour Party organiser: “The Labour Party is set to win a majority nationally, but without progressive voices in Parliament there will be no one to hold them to account. We need Green representatives in Brighton, Bristol and other parts of the country that can offer Real Hope and Real Change to ordinary working people.”

David in Kemptown: “I’m now voting Green…. On a wider picture Labour are reneging on almost every manifesto pledge ie: climate change reversal, taxation  of the rich, becoming pro car, keeping the two child benefit cap. They have a populist obsession with militarism and the arms race, an over-nationalistic use of the Union Jack [flag], a refusal to commit to safe & legal routes being the most effective economical and humane way to stop the boats. .”

John in Queens Park: “I voted for Lloyd Russell Moyle in the last election. To vote for [new Labour candidate] Chris Ward would be to endorse the obviously underhanded removal of an established local MP…”

Mike Davies, ex-Campaign Coordinator for Hanover & Elmgrove branch of the Labour Party, Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party, said: “I have voted Green this time…”

Thelma Walker, former Labour MP, Colne Valley: “So we will only get the change this country needs if there’s political pressure, and that can only come from the Greens. So please vote Green so we can help the new Labour government move in a better direction.”

Thelma Walker, former Labour MP for Colne Valley, West Yorkshire, 2017-2019, said, “I was a proud Labour Party member for almost fourty years but recently that has changed, let me explain why.

“Labour have changed to try to win power but they’ve gone much too far: back-pedalling on their climate commitments, opening the door wider for NHS privatisation and continuing the Conservative’s cuts to education.

“And it’s for these reasons that I’m no longer a Labour Party member, and why I believe we must do what we can to stop the new Labour government going further in the wrong direction.  Our children and our grandchildren depend on it.”

“I’ve been in Parliament and I can tell you how it works: no matter how big Labour’s supermajority is, they won’t take the bold action required unless they’re pressured to. Labour MPs are whipped to follow the party line and cabinet ministers are bound by a code of conduct that means they cannot speak out.  

“So we will only get the change this country needs if there’s political pressure, and that can only come from the Greens. So please vote Green so we can help the new Labour government move in a better direction.”

“PS – in many areas voting Green is a win-win, you get a Labour government and a Green MP.”

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Voters across Sussex, including Brighton & Hove, will go to the polls on Thursday 2 May to pick the new Police and Crime Commissioner, the same day as two Brighton & Hove City Council by-elections (in Queen’s Park and Kemptown) caused by the resignation of two former Labour councillors.

The Green Party has chosen former BBC journalist Jonathan Kent as its candidate for Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

The Green Party candidate won 13.4% of the vote Sussex-wide when the post was last contested in 2021 – although it is likely that Green support in Brighton & Hove, where there is strong support for the Greens, was proportionally higher.

Jonathan said: “We know what the best policing looks like because so many officers deliver that day-in day-out. I want everyone who lives in Sussex to be able to expect that regardless of the colour of their skin, background, gender or [other] orientation.”

“I’ll focus on preventing crime and violence, women’s and girls’ safety and support better funding for youth services while working to ensure we have excellent officers who are welcomed to the heart of every community and every home.”

Siân Berry, Green MP candidate for Brighton Pavilion constituency, said: “Green members in Sussex have made a great choice. Jonathan is exactly the sort of person needed for a position like this.

“We are in strong agreement about the need to prevent crime in the first place, and that’s why funding for youth services is so crucial and will be such a big part of his campaign.

“Youth services have been undervalued and undercut under this Conservative government, but this is where the investment is needed.”

The Green Party believes that criminal justice cannot be divorced from its wider social context. The party has long argued for more focus on crime prevention and the use of restorative justice, an approach increasingly being adopted by police services across the country including in Sussex.

Restorative justice puts the emphasis on the offender making amends to the victim of their crime and aims to avoid pushing people into a life of reoffending.

Jonathan grew up and lives in Ticehurst in Sussex and went to local state schools before reading philosophy and theology at Oxford University.

As a former journalist and foreign correspondent, he campaigned on issues such as human rights, miscarriages of justice, the treatment of migrant workers and sex trafficking.

Jonathan said: “People are really struggling at the moment – the NHS, schools, transport and the other services we rely on have been run down; the cost of living is rising and incomes aren’t stretching as far as they used to.”

“Wildlife and nature are struggling too. Our beaches and rivers are polluted, habitats are being destroyed. At the same time countries that should be finding ways to work together to stop our climate spinning out of control are increasingly in conflict with one another instead.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Greens believe that the answer lies in working together across social divides and party lines to build a Britain and a future in which everyone matters.”

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For more info on voter registration for the Police & Crime Commissioner election and how to make your vote count, visit Brighton & Hove City Council’s election pages

The post Greens select former BBC journalist as Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner candidate appeared first on Brighton & Hove Green Party.

2 April 2024 – Ricky, 45, is a community campaigner, disability sports teacher and a dad. Brighton-born, he has lived in the city for most of his life and in east Brighton for the last eight years. 

“Every penny counts right now for schools, social care, charity, community and third sector organisations in the city. So, for Labour to spend a load of taxpayer cash on by-elections in the month that everyone (including me) has seen their council tax bill jump by 5% is wrong.”

Ricky said: “I have been involved with disability sports for years and have been campaigning to get better leisure centre facilities here in Brighton, with our public services, charity and community services being hit hard by cuts.

“I have felt for a long time that our elected officials locally and nationally do not represent people that rely on these public services. At a time when our public services are being stripped back with budget cuts, the people of Brighton and Hove are footing the bill for the by-elections here in Kemptown and in Queen’s Park, due to the previously elected people who won these seats allegedly not living in Brighton.

“Not only should the preceding councillors pay back any allowances or tax-payer money they received, but the party that selected them should pay all the costs to hold this by-election. Every penny counts right now for schools, social care, charity, community and third sector organisations in the city. So, for Labour to spend a load of taxpayer cash on by-elections in the month that everyone (including me) has seen their council tax bill jump by 5% is wrong.”  

Ricky added, “It should not have to be ordinary people  paying for these by-elections during our cost-of-living crisis and as child poverty and homelessness are rising in the city. If elected, you will find me in and around the community, at the end of an email or a zoom call to highlight the things that matter to all the people of Kemptown ward.” 

Ricky is passionate about protecting local services from the massive funding cuts to local authorities carried out by the Conservative government. He is critical of the decision by Brighton & Hove’s Labour-run council to close schools and axe vital voluntary and charity sector funding. In Ricky’s view, Labour have abandoned many of the promises they made to residents in last year’s local elections and residents in Kemptown deserve a strong opposition voice to hold the Labour administration to account. As a wheelchair user, Ricky also has first-hand knowledge of NHS services. 

The Greens were the closest challengers to Labour in the May 2023  local elections.

The Kemptown by-election is taking place due to the resignation of ex-Labour councillor Bharti Gajjar. Ms Gajjar was expelled from Labour last December alongside former Queen’s Park councillor, Chandni Mistry after the party investigated claims that the pair were living in Leicester. Both councillors have allegedly claimed thousands of pounds in allowances, despite barely attending any meetings; they are reported to have been unresponsive when contacted by residents. Questions still remain about how two individuals believed to be living outside the city were selected by the Labour Party. 

Ricky Perrin’s longer personal statement is below ‘Voter Information’ if of interest.

Ends

Notes

Voter information

• The election will take place on Thursday 2 May – polls to open from 7am to 10pm. Remember to bring valid voter ID.
• Voter deadlines: deadline for council to receive new postal vote or proxy vote applications is 17 April, 5pm. 
• More information from Brighton & Hove City Council Elections Department https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/voting-and-elections/kemptown-and-queens-park-elections-thursday-2-may-2024
• Residents in Queens Park ward who wish to vote in the by-election and need to register please visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
• Or call council electoral services on 01273 291 999 (Monday to Friday 9:30am to 1:30pm) or email: electors@brighton-hove

To help with Ricky’s campaign contact the Brighton & Hove Green Party on our site: https://www.brightonhovegreens.org/contact/

Personal statement from Ricky Perrin

I was born in Brighton and have spent almost my whole life living in different areas of the city, living in east Brighton for the last eight years. In my early 20s, I had an injury that left me paralysed and using a wheelchair; my insurance did not pay out and I spent many years relying on the NHS, doctors, pharmacies, social housing, charities, and community services.

I have first-hand experience of needing our local services, and I feel they need protection so that if you or your family need them one day in the future, they are there for you in your time of need.

I am always getting involved in community bits and pieces, from food co-ops and food banks to community sports and community hubs; many people see me out and about walking my dog around the streets of Brighton, the seafront or in local parks.

Having always lived by the sea I get very upset by the levels of sewage being pumped into our rivers and sea and this led me to get more involved with the Green Party as they highlighted the issue. 

I have a teenage son, now 17. As he has grown up, I have become more concerned with climate issues, thinking about the world we leave behind us for future generations.

I currently work for a local disability charity in the mental health lived experience team. On my days off I take sports wheelchairs to schools and get children playing wheelchair sports like basketball, tennis and rugby. So if your child has returned home from school saying they did wheelchair sports in the last eight years then that could have been with me! I hope meeting them changed the perception of people with a disability they had before meeting me.

A year ago I missed out on being elected in the local elections in Brighton. While  I am really happy to have another go at being elected, I am upset about the reasons why these by-elections are being held! 

I hope that running as a candidate for a second time will inspire more people with mental and physical health conditions and disabilities to get involved in politics. 

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