Could a vote for ‘Rosie Duffield’ gain a head of steam in Brighton Pavilion?

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 20th March 2024)

Some people in Brighton Pavilion are considering voting for a surprise, unofficial, candidate. She will not be on the ballot paper, but people have told me that they might write her name at the bottom of the ballot. She is not seeking nomination here and almost certainly will not endorse this move. She might even publicly denounce it. What is more, she will be standing for the Labour Party in the Kent constituency she already represents.

So why are people in Brighton Pavilion considering voting for Rosie Duffield? She won’t be elected here, and any vote for her will be counted as a spoiled ballot and won’t count. ‘Vote Duffield’ was my wife’s proposal. Rosie Duffield is the Labour MP for Canterbury but she was vilified on social media and shunned by Labour’s leadership because of her gender-critical views. She, like many of us, does not believe that anyone can change their sex regardless of how they might choose to live their lives.  

Tom Gray and Siân Berry

I don’t know how many will vote for ‘Rosie Duffield’. It might be just a small handful or it could yet gain a head of steam. Much depends on what the official Labour candidate, Tom Gray, says on the protection of single-sex spaces for those born female, spaces such as hospital wards, changing rooms, toilets, refuges and rape crisis services.

Siân Berry has had a consistent take on this issue. Her view is that transgender women (those born male) should be allowed to use women-only spaces even if they have all their male bits intact (my words, not hers). The Greens have lost support amongst many women and men because they relentlessly prioritise trans rights over women’s sex-based rights, their failure to investigate a Green Party member, the paedophile David Challenor, and their unlawful discrimination against their former deputy leader, Shahrar Ali, who holds gender-critical views. 

Siân has said she will never compromise on trans rights. Tom Gray, on the other hand, seems very reluctant to say what he believes or if he believes anything at all!  He has been challenged on social media to say where he stands, and some constituents have written to him on the issue. I have been told that he has not replied. 

In my first column this year, I wrote about the potential for this to be an election issue in Brighton Pavilion: “Tom will need to say where he stands. The trans rights lobby, including those in his own party, is very vociferous, especially on social media, but they are not significant electorally.” I pointed out that Labour has shifted from its previous support for self-identification which would have allowed people to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis and has, instead, recommitted itself to ensuring that some single-sex services and places should be accessed by biological women only. 

I have written to Tom asking for his views on this matter but was referred to the regional press office. I wrote to the named press officer, several times over a few weeks, but have had no response. Are they still captured by the trans-rights activists? Why are they unwilling to repeat the party’s new policy? So I wrote again to Tom, as have others who have contacted me. Tom has not replied to them either. If I was still a Labour member in Brighton Pavilion (I resigned my party membership back in 1994) I would be thoroughly disappointed and disillusioned by Tom’s non-campaign.

Why can’t Tom say that he supports the policy of his Party (even if his leader, Sir Keir Starmer can’t quite bring himself to say “sex-based rights”, preferring to refer to “safe spaces”)? Perhaps he feels that he cannot go against those vociferous activists who hold a different view to the party’s policy, as does the MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle. If Tom is running scared of his own Party members, what will he be like when faced with more formidable opponents and vested interests when he is an MP?

A recent opinion poll put Siân Berry at almost 50% with Tom Gray at 37%. He needs something to ignite his rather odd and lacklustre campaign. If he could harness the ‘gender critical’ vote, then the result could be closer than it is currently likely to be. But for now, imagine the scene at the election count as Siân narrowly wins the seat, aided by outraged ‘Duffield’ votes that could otherwise have gone to Labour. It would be too late for regrets.

Let hostilities commence in Brighton Pavilion

At long last, several months after the Green’s Siân Berry launched her energetic and high-profile campaign, the Labour campaign in Brighton Pavilion has got into gear. Tom Gray’s election campaign was formally launched on Saturday morning and the streets of some central wards were awash with door knockers who had gathered from all over the south east. The Conservative campaign with the unrelentingly optimistic Khobi Vallis in Brighton Kemptown took to Woodingdean while the sitting Labour MP, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, was off campaigning in Brighton Pavilion.

Labour campaigned strongly in the two Worthing seats and in Hastings.

In Brighton Pavilion Labour campaigners came up against two negative main issues on the doorstep. The first was Labour’s most recent U-turn on its £28 billion pledge to tackle the climate crisis. This plays right into the hands of Siân Berry, and in an ultra marginal seat like Pavilion, this will be one of several factors that could decide the outcome. 

The second issue was Gaza, a concern I heard dismissed by a Londoner out on behalf of Tom Gray. She said that it is just a few middle class people who are concerned about this. Hmmm?  Loyalty to Labour’s spineless leader, Sir Keir Starmer, is one thing. Total denial is another. Labour is already taking private polling on this issue, such is the concern by national campaign managers that Starmer’s unconditional backing of Israel will harm the election campaign.

What I thought was most unfortunate in Tom Gray’s ‘Sorry I missed you’ leaflet was this statement: “We have a Green MP, but it hasn’t stopped Rishi Sunak digging oil wells or sewage pouring into our sea. Only a Labour government can do that.”  Yes, there is a solitary Green MP . But there are over 200 Labour MPs and that hasn’t stopped “Rishi Sunak digging oil wells or sewage pouring into our sea.” It could be said that Labour is over 200 times more culpable than Caroline Lucas for this failure. 

Feargal Sharkey with Green Party Peer, Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb

Such campaigning rhetoric, Tom, does not cast you in a good light. I am not sure that Feargal Sharkey, who helped launch your campaign on Saturday, would endorse such an anti-Green sentiment as he is prepared to work across the political divide on clean water issues, including with the Green Party.  I imagine that particular line was fed to you by some faceless regional communication officer. My advice to you, Tom, is aim high in your campaign and don’t become the puppet of Labour’s regional office.  Nonsense such as blaming Caroline Lucas for single-handedly failing to stop the Conservatives from polluting the environment simply makes your campaign look stupid.

Will a Labour government stop the water companies polluting our sea and rivers? I hope, if elected, that it will. But if there is any cost to the Exchequer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves might have something else to say about this.

Update 12/02/2024 11.08am: Siân Berry held a rally at the weekend as well as door knocking as part of her campaign. She said at the rally: ““The people of Brighton Pavilion deserve a strong voice in Parliament, unafraid and unwhipped. If I’m elected to continue in Caroline Lucas’ footsteps I will be fearless in advocating for the things that matter to people”.

Note 13/02/2024 8.35am: The original version of this post had a scurrilous reference to Helena Dollimore, Labour’s candidate in Hastings and Rye. This has now been moved to a post of its own.

 

 

What do we want in Brighton Pavilion: a lone Green MP focussing on the environment or yet another backbench Labour MP lost in the crowd?

Let’s face it, the Labour Party is likely to win the next general election, and likely to win by a landslide. All that can now prevent a Labour win is a major misstep by its lacklustre leader, Sir Keir Starmer, and he is so boring that even if he did would anyone notice?

Cllr Jacob Taylor

When it comes to the contest in Brighton Pavilion, a curious claim is being made by Labour activists: that we would be better served by an MP from the governing party than a sole MP from a minor and otherwise marginal party.  The latest to do so is the usually sensible Jacob Taylor, the Party’s deputy leader on the city council.  He wrote link today’s Brighton Argus: “If residents are faced with a Green Party candidate parachuted in from London, only able to shout from opposition, and a progressive local Labour candidate who forms part of a government that builds a new economy and secures funding for the city, we would be wise to choose the latter.”

Jacob’s claim deserves careful scrutiny. The Green’s choice of Sian Berry, a candidate with no local connection (who is consolidating her position in London by being her Party’s number one candidate in the Greater London Assembly elections next May) provides Labour with a strong argument for locals not to vote Green.

For what it’s worth, Sian Berry is a very engaging and astute politician . Unlike others, she does not duck the issue of being an outsider, pointing out that Caroline Lucas herself was not local in 2010 when she won. Sian is determined that she will meet as many voters as possible and, having met her, I have no doubt about her determination to do so. If Labour itself chooses someone from outside Brighton, and if it does not select a woman candidate, then Sian’s chances will be hugely enhanced. (I have written previously on why I doubt Sian will hold the seat: ‘Why the Green Party’s Sian Berry is almost certainly not going to hold Brighton Pavilion at the next general election’).

As for Jacob’s claim that a Green MP is “only able to shout from opposition”, he has not understood why Caroline Lucas has been more effective as the Green’s sole MP than many Labour backbenchers. She has been able to build alliances from across the House, with Conservatives, Lib Dem’s and Labour MPs.

According to Wikipedia, in November 2010, Caroline was awarded “Newcomer of the Year” in The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year awards.  In July 2011 she was awarded “Best all-rounder” in the Total Politics End of Year MP awards and in September 2011 she was awarded “MP of the Year” in the Women in Public Life Awards 2011. Also in 2011 she was given the Political Studies Association award for “Influencing the Political Agenda” and voted “Progressive of the Year” in Left Foot Forward‘s readers’ poll.  In November 2020 she was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Power list 2020.

As for a “progressive” Labour candidate, it is unlikely that a non-Starmerite candidate will be selected, which begs the question about how ‘progressive’ they can be. Sir Keir has backtracked on so many of the pledges on which he was elected as Labour leader that if he promised that the sun will rise in the morning I would expect him to renege on this before dawn has broken. (You can read what I have written about Starmer’s u-turns: ‘How many more U-turns can we expect from Sir Keir Starmer?’).

But the key argument in what Jacob and other Labour activists are saying is the difference a local Labour MP in Brighton Pavilion will make. The answer is not a lot. Perhaps if the MP was of the leadership calibre of Peter Kyle, the MP for Hove and Portslade, then they would stand out as a minister, but constituencies often lose out if their MP is a busy minister (unless they have excellent local office staff). Alternatively, they could stand out if they shout from the sidelines, like the MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, does (unfortunately, sometimes shouting at women).

There is an honourable role, albeit it rarely seen, where a backbencher carves out for themselves a niche on a particular issue, such as Sarah Champion on child protection and, before her, Anne Cryer on grooming gangs. A Green MP could focus purely on the environment and not spread herself too thinly trying to cover every and all issues, a criticism that could be levelled against Caroline Lucas. Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) and, until 2010, David Lepper (Brighton Pavilion) were excellent constituency MPs, as is Caroline Lucas. But yet another Labour MP in Brighton Pavilion is likely to be lost in the crowd.

(Update 22/08/23 16.09: The original version of this post unfortunately referred to Lloyd Russell-Moyle ‘shooting’ rather than ‘shouting’. I apologise for this unfortunate typo).

Bring your MP to Work. So we did!

Lloyd Russell-Moyle with BHT staff at our Brighton Advice Centre

‘Bring your MP to Work Day’ is an initiative organised by Young Legal Aid Lawyers and the All Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid.  This week (1^st August 2019) the Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, visited the Brighton Advice Centre run by Brighton Housing Trust to discuss legal aid and the challenges that providers face.

Visits such as this aim to show MPs the value of advice and the added value of early advice which has been lost because of changes brought about following the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

A spokesperson from Young Legal Aid Lawyers said of the ‘Bring your MP to Work Day’:

“The government has committed to piloting early legal advice in one area of social welfare law (e.g. housing). We need them to recognise that social welfare problems are complex and often not confined to one area of law. The government must commit to a comprehensive early legal advice pilot.”

The visit also coincided with the 70^th anniversary of Legal Aid, introduced in 1949 to ensure that people could have access to justice regardless of their circumstances.  Much of the work of BHT’s Brighton Advice Centre is funded through legal aid.  I wrote about the 70th anniversary earlier this week.

Lloyd heard of the positive impact that BHT’s advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings had in preventing homelessness.  In the year to the end of March, through advice and representation by BHT’s advice staff, 775 households avoided becoming homeless.

Other issues discussed with the MP included restrictions on who is eligible for legal aid which means that some people may go unrepresented in Court proceedings.

I was really touched by what Lloyd said after his visit: “I have been aware of and worked with BHT’s Advice Centre since before I became a Member of Parliament.  The difference it makes to the city should not be underestimated, preventing homelessness and rough sleeping, and helping people navigate through the complexities of the welfare benefit system.

“If the housing and welfare benefit system worked properly, we wouldn’t have the worsening homelessness crisis and people wouldn’t be living in poverty.  We shouldn’t need the ultimate safety net provided by BHT’s Advice Centre but until housing and the benefits system work, I will remain grateful for all the work that BHT staff do in this important service.”

My colleague, Nikki Homewood, Director for Advice and Support Services, responded by saying: “The impact that this service has on prevented homelessness and rough sleeping in Brighton and Hove cannot be overstated.  Can you imagine how much worse the situation would be if we had not prevented so many households from becoming homeless?

“Legal aid funding makes our work possible.  £600,000 or 81% of the income of our Brighton Advice Centre comes through legal aid.  Brighton and Hove City Council supports this work with a grant of £77,000.  The service relies on fundraising and it still runs at a loss.

“The service makes a huge contribution to the city, preventing homelessness, bringing in £600,000 investment into the city, and providing employment for twenty members of staff.”

In 2018/19, the Brighton Advice Centre worked with 930 different households, a third of whom were over 45 years old and 166 were under 25 years old.

The Brighton Advice Centre recently moved from Queen’s Road in Brighton to BHT’s head office at 144 London Road.  Other services provided at the advice centre include a specialist Immigration Advice Service and a Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme at Brighton County Court where those facing eviction can get eleventh hour advice and representation from one of BHT’s solicitors. We provide a similar service in Hastings.