INFLUENTIAL members of Labour faction Momentum have opened up about their goals.

The Brighton and Hove branch’s steering committee, which influences the direction of the group, spoke exclusively to The Argus, saying their lives “depend on Jeremy Corbyn being elected”.

The group said they were “servants, not leaders” and helped community leaders organise to improve their living conditions.

Political education chief Callum Cant said he thought Brighton and Hove City Council was “moving in the right direction”.

Campaign co-ordinator Aisling Murray said: “I can sleep at night knowing certain councillors in the Labour group are in power protecting us.”

But the group made no secret of their electoral plans for a possible General Election as they aim to take Conservative safe seats across Sussex.

Members of the committee said they hoped radical policies would attract voters who had become disillusioned by the political system.

Communications head Johnbosco Nwogbo said: “It’s going to become more red around here. The Labour Party will not be compromising.”

Ms Murray said: “So many young people who have lived under austerity will be turning 18 and can vote. No one is going to vote Tory.

“It’s not in anyone’s interest except the elite for us to tack to the right.

“We’re desperate.

“I have got a disability and my life literally depends on the NHS and getting a socialist Government elected.

“It’s not some ideological belief, this is my real life.”

Another member of the steering committee said the next General Election could be “life or death”.

Trade union liaison Elsie Bradley Middle said the group did not have time “to w*** over Marxist theory”.

She said: “Look at the hundreds of thousands of deaths linked to Tory austerity. It’s literally life and death.”

When questioned about opposition to Momentum in the city, Mr Cant said those criticising the group on Twitter did not reflect the views of Brighton residents.

He said: “A lot of this negative stuff comes out of the Commentariat bubble which doesn’t represent the views of anyone here.

“It represents the beliefs of Change UK supporters in the borough of Westminster. They’re not a social force in this city.”

Despite tensions between Hove MP Peter Kyle and Brighton Labour councillors, including deputy leader Nick Childs, the Momentum committee said it would back him provided he was chosen by his party members.

Mr Nwogbo added: “We support our membership having a say in who we put forward as an MP. We’ve always been open about that.

“Lloyd Russell-Moyle asked his membership if they wanted him to run before he put his name forward. That’s amazing, he’s a great MP.”

With news of Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister, Momentum is more determined than ever to bring about a Corbyn government.

Mr Nwogbo said: “It’s just a testament to the festering racism in the Tory party that they would elect a man who has called African children ‘piccaninnies with watermelon smiles’. He has called Muslim women ‘letterboxes’.”

Originally from Nigeria, Mr Nwogbo added: “A Boris Johnson Government could be the difference between me staying in this country and me being forced to leave. I’m not some ideological warrior trying to kill stuff.”