Six candidates are standing in a by-election in Kemptown for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council on Thursday 2 May.
The seat became vacant when Bharti Gajjar resigned. She was elected for Labour last May but expelled from the party in December. She then sat as an independent but resigned in March.
The six candidates are Robert Brown (Liberal Democrat), Gary Farmer (Brighton and Hove Independent), Jamie Gillespie (Independent), Theresa Mackey (Labour), Josephine O’Carroll (Conservative) and Ricky Perrin (Green).
Each candidate received questions about local issues submitted by the public and was asked why they wanted to represent the ward.
Below are the responses from Gary Farmer, 53, a language school boss, who lives in Old Steine.
Do you live in the ward and why do you want to represent Kemptown?
I live and work in Kemptown ward. I want to serve the people and represent Kemptown as I have witnessed and become frustrated at the decline and neglect in Kemptown as Westminster politics puts party loyalties and political point-scoring above the needs of our residents.
I offer a genuine and credible alternative to the veiled politics and party tribalism of old.
Local issues need local people with real-life experiences within Kemptown to best represent all fairly and independently.
How were you selected to stand for election?
I was selected by open discussion within the Brighton and Hove Independent group as a genuine local candidate living and working in Kemptown ward.
A passion for the community, life experience and local representation are very important to the Independent group.
It should also be noted only two candidates standing for election live in Kemptown ward.
Kemptown ward is blighted by litter and graffiti. How will you support residents and tackle this?
I will prioritise regular street cleaning, focusing on problem areas within Kemptown and implement deep-cleaning initiatives to address litter and graffiti.
I will also increase the number of street bins, targeting areas where our community wants them, and review collection schedules and by actively participating in clean-up drives and awareness campaigns that a cleaner Kemptown benefits everyone.
We need a proactive and sustained approach to graffiti and tagging by promptly addressing incidents and allocating resources for graffiti removal.
What are your views on the return of glyphosate weedkiller? Will you volunteer to join the tidy up team?
I have been a member of the tidy up team for several years and clean up in the Kemptown area regularly.
It’s difficult to balance weed management and the safety of residents against its environmental impact.
We need to get on top of this problem with the current targeted strategy in the short term.
I support local neighbourhoods being given the right to opt out of the use of glyphosate where there is a viable plan to maintain clean and safe streets.
If phase three of the Valley Gardens project increases congestion, what will you do on behalf of those affected including residents?
The council’s external transport consultants say VG3 will increase congestion and pollution.
Brighton and Hove Buses and Buswatch say it will delay and lengthen bus journeys.
This flawed scheme will create difficulties for residents and businesses within Kemptown.
Since 2018 I have been a director of the Valley Gardens Forum group and through this I will continue to put pressure on the council and engage with residents and stakeholders to identify and tackle specific problems such as pinch-points related to congestion.
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Polling stations in Kemptown are due to open at 7am on Thursday 2 May and close at 10pm. Photo ID is required for those voting in person.
Brighton snd Hove independents are a political party who have selected this guy. He is NOT independent
Hardly. Just a grouping of independents without any national political aspirations.
Until they do.
Nope. Won’t happen (its kind of the whole point)
Ever heard of the saying:
“No matter how many times a rock falls to the floor, it has an same chance of floating to the ceiling?”
Never is never, until never happens. And why rule it out? You never know, a path might present itself where you’d have an opportunity to affect larger change.
Just a thought.
Sue Shanks, you should know better (and I know you do), we are all independent and work under the group umbrella so we can achieve fair representation under the current systems put in place by the Electoral Commission. Each group member has their own personal reasons for standing, own views on local issues, own experiences in the ward and bring a breath of fresh air to the stale and disconnected Westminster style politics you and your fellow councillors hide behind. We all truly represent and have a deep connection to the wards we are standing in. I am glad that as a Green Party councillor you feel it necessary to feed false information to the electorate and against my running in the ward I live, work and was born in. Good luck to Ricky, I wish him the best.
Cllr Shanks,
I think you know this already, but let me correct your misinformation: Brighton & Hove Independents are an umbrella group for genuinely independent candidates, councillors and those who want to join the group and help build it. It is not a party. It is a group. It has been obliged to register with the Electoral Commision – hence you see the word ‘party’. Without that registration the group has no emblem beside candidate names on the ballot paper. Our group has an ethos and in building the group its important that voters can see who the B&H Indie candidate is. We do not want voters to confuse our candidates with other ‘Independents’ that appear on the ballot paper who may, for example, be relaxed (eg like your party is, like Labour is) over whether a candidate lives in the ward or even a very long way from it.
We are so different to the traditional ‘Party’ (Greens, Labour, Cons, Lib-Dems for instance) that the defintion does not apply. This is because (a) we embrace outlook diversity rather than require members to tow a party-line and (b) we find common cause in the conviction that Britain’s towns, cities and districts would be better goverened if the nationally-focussed Labour, Tory, Lib Dem stay completely out of it. We say – let citizens run their own neighbourhoods.
Happy to answer any follow-up questions you have Cllr Shanks.
ps We are not a party, we are a group.
So your only criticism of Mr Farmer is his label on the ballot paper and which group he will join should be be elected and not on any of his policies and positions?
Sums up the Greens – style over substance.
Thank you Chris 🙂
He sounds like an isolationist to me. Considering his alignment to one of the most vocal, but least partipatory, and clearly partisan social media groups, can we expect more Westminster-style methods from Mr Farmer?
Dear Benjamin, thank you for your feedback. All Social media platforms are open to all candidates equally, there are many out there and people are free to read what they wish from whatever source they wish. By definition an isolationist is a person favouring a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries. This is very fat from the truth, quite the opposite. As an independent I have no political loyalties and am open to work with all council members. The current Westminster parties in council are much more isolationist than I am and refuse to work with one another – the evidence is there.
I appreciate the amicable discussion.
Social media bias aside, I have a different perspective of the working relationships within the ward councillors and council officers over the last five years or so – I’ve achieved a great many number of projects, developments and advocated for a lot of residents through this synergistic working. My evidence is very much tangible.
However, I agree with your commitment to working together, not that you have a choice as an independent, it’s that or be politically castrated.
Either way Gary, to put yourself forward, is to open yourself up to a load of criticisms, and from what I’ve seen so far, you’ve been handling that aspect well.
Thank you Benjamin
I watched these candidates at the hustings and I thought Gary came over by far and away the best. Candidates aligned to political parties haven’t worked well in Kemptown. It looks like a tip. Gary works and runs a successful business in the area. We need someone now that can try and deliver for Kemptown with a proven track record. I wish him every success and he should take hope from the Brunswick and Adelaide elections. The Greens weren’t delivering and they had a huge majority and we dispatched them and replaced them with the Labour candidate. He was given very little support but who worked hard and managed to get elected. If he doesn’t deliver we will no doubt vote in Independent next. People in these elections are far more prepared to vote for the right person. Gary comes over as the best candidate in Kemptown by far and he now needs to talk to as many people as possible as goodness knows we need someone of good calibre representing the ward.
Thank you 🙂
Never voted independent but so far the only candidate that seems to understand the issues with VG3, (although no one has mentioned the eye watering cost). It will be interesting to see what the Lib Dem says.
Thank you 🙂
You could read the article where the Lib Dem candidate answers the same questions!
There are articles for each of the candidates.
Hard to take Gary seriously when his only consideration is a potential depredation to the multiple properties he owns in the Old Steine
Seems the most genuine out of the lot of them. Labour are taking the seat for granted, it’d be good for Kemptown to have someone local working for us who really wants to do something good for the community without having party politics dictating what they say or reading from a script and he talks with passion and a lot of common sense i dont see in the others. Worth a try IMHO – he’s got a good chance to cause an upset
Thank you 🙂
No problem, the rest of the bunch seem vague and disconnected. Just seem to be doing what they are told and not really have a clue about what matters, I wish you all the luck in the world!!!!!!!!