Jason Kitcat, the Green leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, is unwise to be so dismissive of the Argus reader’s council tax poll (The Argus, February 14).

Its results reflect opinion polls and by-election results since 2011 showing the disillusion with and hostility towards the Greens which have developed – and which now make it so difficult for them to convince people about council tax.

I’ve been involved in local political for 40 years. I still spend time knocking on doors and talking to people about their views. It’s no exaggeration to say that in those 40 years I cannot recall so many people in so many parts of the city express such intense dislike of any previous administration.

Many who voted Green because it seemed to offer hope of a better future are in despair at traffic displaced from one area to another, at falling recycling rates, at Green reliance on what is often seen as flawed consultation and, especially, at the failure to run an efficient refuse collection service.

Even without surveys and polls the real evidence of this feeling is the conversations in shops, pubs, cafes, on buses and in the street where the most frequently asked question about the council is: “When can we get the Greens out?”

David Lepper, former leader of the council and Labour MP for Brighton Pavilion 1997-2010