Councillor Kevin Allen's letter ("Greens get away with murder", June 19) shows just how rattled Labour is by the Green party's growing threat in Brighton and Hove.

Kevin Allen is so used to the ways of his own party that he is incapable of conceiving that Greens are able to think and act locally, without the cold hand of some central party machine dictating which candidates to have on our lists.

Celia Barlow was shipped in to contest the Hove constituency for Labour in 2005 and that went down like a lead balloon with voters, evidenced by her narrow victory of just 420 votes. We are not making the same mistake.

With the stakes so high in Brighton Pavilion, it is fitting that the growing membership of the Brighton and Hove Green party are to be given a choice of serious politicians in a democratic ballot to select their candidate. We are long-standing colleagues and have both been closely involved with the city over many years, as convenor of the Green Group and the sitting MEP.

When the ballot to determine who the prospective parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion is over and the results known, we will continue to work for the benefit of the city and region by promoting the policies vital for the survival of the planet.

As for Coun Allen's references to Preston Park ward and the late change of local candidates with others, here is something he might not expect from a political party, such as his own - an honest admission that we did not handle a difficult decision as well as we might have, but it certainly did not involve the "centre" as he suggests.

The original candidates disagreed with the "ranking" strategy proposed by the local party executive, so new ranked candidates were put up for the contest, including Amy Kennedy.

She topped the poll ahead of Labour to win a seat. Happily, all those directly involved - and our entire membership - are taking an active part in a civilised, independent examination of what happened in order to learn lessons, as befits a mature political party.

The results in May were disastrous for Labour and rather than continue to rake over the coals, as Coun Allen seems keen to do, we're presenting the only effective opposition to the Tories in the city.

We are looking forward to offering the voters of Brighton Pavilion the chance to make the city's strong green voice heard in Parliament, whichever of us is selected as the Green party's prospective parliamentary candidate.