What will you bring to the party and what are your aims for the next four years?

I hope we can have a strong vision of a more sustainable society and the things we have won through our last administration and the rejuvenation of the city and that can carry on.

We can carry on to push against inequality with a Tory government which has a fresh outright mandate, which we understand to mean they will push austerity and they will push privatisation at perhaps an even more rapid rate than previously.

We will of course campaign and move against austerity as we believe it hurts the people who had nothing to do with the decision and we believe it hurts the most marginalised.

We will rage against inequality and will fight hard against austerity.

Over the last four years there has been a public display of disunity within the Green Party – with the outgoing members are we seeing a united Green Party now?

I hope so. I think the issue of the public display was unfortunate – we have different opinions.

But we within the Green Party do politics differently and I think everyone in the party understands that and is very proud of that tradition.

We are allowed a different opinion and it runs 180 degrees away from the culture in most other political parties where most people aren’t allowed to express their own opinions.

We are a party which is growing, the membership of the Brighton and Hove Green Party is 2,000 people and we are easily the largest party in the city.

And I believe people understand our politics is different and they are joining us because they agree they want that bold voice standing up for the environment and standing up for people.

So are we going to see a united Green Party?

Yes.

You have a reputation for being more radical than the previous leader so are we going to see a more radical Green Party?

I think the Brighton and Hove Green Party is like the national Green Party, which is the most radical mainstream party in the United Kingdom.

We look to our sister parties like Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party.

We would look to them as to how we understand the difference we make at a local level.

It was no accident, for example, when we passed our policy to be the first English council not to evict people who could not pay their bedroom tax.

We spoke to people in Scotland and Wales about what way they should have those conversations.

We are the most radical party and that is going to carry on.

What would you say to people who say the Green dream is dead?

I do not think so at all. It is obviously a bit of setback, we have ended up as the third party on the council. But we will be back.

What went wrong during the last administration to put you on the back foot locally?

I think part of our problem in administration is we were not always the best at communicating what our solutions to problems were and why we were seeking those solutions to solve particular problems.

I believe that is at the root of a number of misunderstandings.

When I was canvassing my own residents the ideas we were carrying forward became much clearer to them.

To some degree there has been some media distortion over what our message has been.

But I firmly believe some of the difficulties we faced is because we have not been able to communicate our ideas.

Was the difficulty in communication due to the dispute within the party?

I don’t think so. I think some of that was being the first ever Green party to run a council.

I imagine in the 1920s when the Labour party ran their very first council they had difficulties communicating what their ideas were as well – surprise, surprise.

What are your thoughts on working with or against the Labour Party for the next four years?

If the Labour administration is putting forward sensible ideas for a cleaner, safer, fairer city then the Greens would be proud to back them as we believe firmly in what’s best for Brighton and Hove.

How could the party have managed the transport situation in the city better, with issues such as parking charges?

So much of it was the way in which we communicated how we resolved the problem.

What many people did not know about car parking charges is the money cannot be spent on anything else, it has to be ring fenced and it pays for pensioners’ bus passes.

Are we seriously at the point in society where we are saying we do not want to pay for pensioners’ bus passes?

I think not and I don’t believe that would be something the Green Party would support.

What could have been done to solve the problems with the bins?

What has been interesting in talking to friends and colleagues since the election is they have said “every administration has had a bin strike”.

The first time I came to Brighton and Hove in 1999 there was an enormous bin strike – I believe it was much worse than our bin strike.

To some degree that reflects long standing issues where there have been conflicts over time in Brighton and Hove and that has been part of the furniture.

I hope what we now have is the resolution to the long term dogged problem of unequal pay and that surely is a thing in the 21st century that we should all look to as a success.

Do you think the Labour party will resolve this in the next few months?

I wish them luck.

At its core – what is your political philosophy?

I would hope I am a fusion of green and red and I would describe that as an eco-socialist.

I firmly believe the ecology, the environment and our planet is as important as the people who live on our planet and how those people are treated.

We have to move on climate chaos as much as we have to move on the deep hardened inequality in our society and we have to do both at the same time.

Do some people have difficulty visualising and understanding the Green vision?

I think part of the issue is, it is politics – we do not all agree.

The Labour Party has been around for the past hundred years and the Conservative Party has been around for quite a few hundred years and they are embedded in the political system.

Before the Greens turned up as the new kids on the block they flipped the control of the council in the same way you would flip a coin.

We turned up and have upset the applecart – but that is politics.

As you said you were the “new kids on the block”. Were some of the problems you experienced in the last administration down to inexperience?

I think some of it would be portrayed that way.

I think what the Greens will go down in history for is having taken brave decisions and I think some of the time by making brave decisions that means you are not popular.

Our motto as we are going into opposition is you have to remember what is best for Brighton and Hove and we believe firmly the decisions we made were for the better of the city and that is the reasons why we made those decisions.

Do you have anything to add to Alex Phillips claims about the increased campaigning or “stirring up”?

I think Alex was referring to one issue – that was the Valley Gardens scheme.

She, like the rest of the Green councillors, has been quite rightly made quite anxious by the comments from the leader of the Labour group.

She expressed herself in a manner which I might not have, but we move on and we hope Labour will not go ahead with their plans and they will keep to the investment that is provided in Valley Gardens.

Quick-fire questions

What is your signature dish you cook at home?

Spaghetti and meatballs.

Favourite film?

The Motorcycle Diaries.

Favourite sport?

I play football, rugby and hurling.

Which football team do you support?

Celtic.

Do you have a favourite colour?

Green – what a surprise.

Favourite restaurant in Brighton and Hove?

Food for Friends.

Favourite lesson while in school?

Art

Where did you work before becoming a councillor?

The Institute of Employment Rights.