IN response to Jean Calder yesterday (Have yearly council elections to keep them on their toes) I’d disagree but not for the “self-serving” reasons she claims.

Brighton and Hove needs stability and continuity more than anything else.

Leadership at the city council has changed from Labour to the Tories to the Greens and back to Labour again in the last 15 years.

Changing every four years is bad enough, doing it every 12 months would be a disaster.

Even with elections every four years we are in a state of near permanent electioneering, with the Green and Conservative groups getting together to frustrate any success that whilst it may benefit the city might also reflect well on my administration.

Business, communities, residents and the people working for the city council need a clear sense of direction, a vision for their neighbourhood.

Brighton and Hove and our city region that has a lifespan beyond the current four year cycle.

I want to break the cycle of short-termism in the city and be able to work on major projects like the extension of Churchill Square and the restoration of Madeira Terraces as well as the excellent basic services residents expect.

Annual elections would not only be costly to the taxpayer but would also mean all of us on the council would be focused on electioneering, not doing the job we were elected to do.

We need focus, not distraction.

At the halfway mark of our current administration next week, we will be publishing 100 positive things we have achieved in the past two years and preview some of the things we will deliver in our next two years and beyond.

I hope in 2019 the city will give us the chance to do even more in a second term of office, building on what we have achieved so far, like 500 new council homes.

Annual elections would mean a lot of promises but very little delivery.

I know from speaking to people all the time that it is delivery, not promises that they want.

Councillor Warren Morgan, Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council