Brighton Pavillion
Image Credit: Creative Commons: Brighton Guy

Brighton & Hove Green Party have launched their manifesto for the local elections taking place in May. Their election pledges cover a wide range of issues – from homelessness to climate change, and from youth services to education.

Radical housing policies

The Green manifesto makes a series of bold proposals for Brighton & Hove. Among them are commitments to tackle the city’s housing crisis. The Greens have committed to:

  • Reshape homelessness provision by replacing privately-run temporary and emergency accommodation with council-owned provision.
  • Deliver 600 new council houses.
  • Protect council tenants from being evicted if they are in arrears due to the bedroom tax or Universal Credit.
  • Clamp down on rogue landlords guilty of health and safety violations.

The Greens want to build on their record of running on housing from when they ran the council in 2011-15. Over that time, the Greens brought nearly 900 empty properties back into use, and protected more than 2,500 households from losing their homes.

Facing up to the environmental crises

Alongside the pledges around housing, the manifesto also contains a range of policies seeking to tackle climate change and environmental challenges. The manifesto commits the Greens to:

  • Expand infrastructure for electric vehicle use.
  • Work to increase provision for recycling by revisiting the controversial PFI deal with waste contractor Veolia.
  • Radically reduce pesticide use in parks and public spaces.
  • Drive up animal welfare standards through council procurement.

Tackling discrimination

Also central to the manifesto is a focus on tackling discrimination and celebrating diversity. The Greens have pledged to:

  • Make anonymised CVs compulsory for public sector employers to reduce discrimination in recruitment.
  • Establish a LGBT+ housing group to resist housing discrimination.
  • Protect funding for programmes aimed at combating violence against women and girls.

‘Bold plans and real action’

The launch of the manifesto takes the Greens into the final months of the election campaign. And the current Green council group convener Phelim Mac Cafferty focused on how the Greens’ positions will counteract austerity in the city when speaking on the launch:

Greens will not stand by as austerity continues to hammer our city. For Brighton and Hove to thrive, we know our residents need bold plans and real action on housing, waste, transport and the environment.

If you want to know what Green Councillors stand for look at what we have done in the last few weeks – we put £12.5m back into the council budget, reversing some of the worst cuts, and investing in homeless support and tackling climate change. It was Green Councillors who stopped the Tory takeover of the council, following Labour councillor resignations and defections.  

Ahead of the local elections on May 2nd, I am proud to share our vision for the city in the Green Party manifesto. With Labour divided and the Conservatives plunging us head-first into Brexit, it is the Greens who will stand up for Brighton and Hove.

Brighton & Hove Green Party will be hoping for a strong showing in this year’s local elections. Although the party ran the council from 2011-15, they lost 12 seats in the 2015 local elections, putting the council into Labour control.

But this year, they’re not taking anything for granted. They’re organising continuous campaign days, and have received support from the Young Greens of England and Wales. The Young Greens are even coordinating activists from across the country to campaign in the city for two days in April.

Local elections are taking place in Brighton & Hove, and elsewhere in England, on the 2 May.