Democratic elections are set to return to Brighton and Hove for the first time since the pandemic struck, with our city to vote in three different elections on May 6 – and there is plenty at stake including the future of our local democracy itself.

There will be two by-elections for councillor vacancies at Brighton and Hove City Council in the Hollingdean and Stanmer and Patcham wards as well as a county-wide vote for a Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner which all electors can vote in.

The Electoral Commission has been keen to stress polling stations will open as usual on May 6, with measures to make this a Covid-safe election.

Residents can also apply for a postal vote in the normal way up until April 20. I strongly encourage every Argus reader to take part in this democratic process that we all hold so dear.

Readers of our local newspaper know as well as anyone in the city the local issues that are at stake in this election and it is vital for our city’s future that you have your say.

Apply for a postal vote today to guarantee your say – don’t let Covid-19 keep you away from your democratic right.

Our Brighton and Hove Conservative team is looking forward to contesting these elections.

The city council has gone from crisis to crisis over the past two years at the hands of the Labour/Green coalition with few service delivery areas left unscathed from ideological decisions that have cost taxpayers millions.

Council blunders have cost local schools £3.3 million; school transport services for children with a disability over £1 million; Council house tenants £10 million and the city’s domestic violence services its contract.

Basic service delivery has failed in many areas and the council has taken its eye off the ball on crime and antisocial behaviour.

As Conservatives we strongly believe the state of the city doesn’t have to be this way. It can – and must – be much better run and making this happen starts now with these by-elections in May. This week Brighton and Hove Conservatives announced our two candidates for the by-elections who have the experience to hit the ground running and provide strong representation for the city.

Anne Meadows will contest the Patcham by-election for the Conservatives. Anne, who works in the NHS, is a highly experienced and principled candidate who has a great understanding of how the council works. She would bring extensive knowledge of housing and adult social care and will strengthen the Conservative Group in Brighton and Hove City Council.

Dr Emma Hogan has been selected as our Conservative candidate for Hollingdean and Stanmer. Emma is a highly regarded doctor working in mental health and would make a fantastic contribution with her belief that the key to mental health is to improve our local environment.

This election is important for the future of democracy in our city, which has come under an unprecedented threat from this Green/Labour council over the last two years.

Two years after the Green council leader pledged in his manifesto to make Brighton and Hove into the country’s most democratic city, our council has instead become the country’s least democratic.

As has only now been fully revealed, following the last local elections in 2019 Labour and the Greens signed a secret agreement outlining an extensive coalition arrangement across a wide range of council policy areas that has restricted scrutiny and accountability.

Labour and the Greens repeatedly refused to publicly release this agreement saying that they considered it to be private but it was leaked to the press in December. The impact of this agreement has been bad for democracy and provides an explanation for why such bad decisions have been made. We now understand that the key decision to build on the urban fringe was pre-agreed by the coalition before a consultation process even started. Residents were then denied their democratic right to have their petitions and deputations heard and debated by the council.

It is beyond the pale that Labour and the Greens have both been claiming taxpayers’ wages for being the “official opposition” while at the same time working in a coalition – and a situation without precedent in UK politics.

Residents have been denied their democratic rights by the Labour-Green coalition during the last two years. Use your vote on May 6 to send Labour and the Greens a message that it is not acceptable they have allowed our city to fall into a such disrepair.