Councillor Dawn Barnett hits back at 'racist' claims in Brighton

Dawn Barnett, Conservative councillor for Hangleton and Knoll, was to become mayor of Brighton and Hove at the end of the month after Councillor Mary Mears, who was originally due to take the role, became ill.

However, councillors from the Green Party and Labour indicated they would not back Cllr Barnett's nomination because of concerns over statements she has made in the past.

The 80-year-old responded to a column by Labour co-leader John Allcock in The Argus yesterday.

Dawn Barnett said it's "unfair what people are saying" about her

Cllr Allcock said the move by the Conservatives to publicly announce Dawn Barnett as mayor was “highly unusual” and “likely taken to force us into supporting a controversial candidate”.

The comment piece pointed towards Cllr Barnett’s previous comments about ethnic minorities, the homeless and the LGBTQ community.

In it Cllr Allcock said: “As a City of Sanctuary and a council working towards becoming an anti-racist city, we did have concerns about Cllr Barnett taking on the role.

"We were very uneasy about a councillor with a track record of inflammatory public statements about ethnic minorities, the homeless and LGBTQ people, becoming the first citizen of Brighton and Hove."

Cllr Barnett said: “It doesn’t make me a racist because I don’t want the travellers taking over the parks. That doesn’t make me a racist or against ethnic minorities because there are perfectly adequate camp sites for travellers when they’re in the area. They should not take over our parks.

The council confirmed that City Parks "completed a clear-up" after travellers left Preston Park on Monday

“It doesn’t make me a racist if I say I don’t want to walk down North Street and find people begging for money for their next fix.

“People get their benefits, they have flats, lots of them aren’t homeless. Lots of it is for drug money, that doesn’t make me a racist, it means I have common sense.

“They don’t like that I speak out for the residents on the state of the city, I’m saying what the residents tell me. The city is filthy.

Dawn Barnett said her main care is the city which she described as "filthy"

“I ought to thank them really because they have given me so much publicity before the next election.

“I know I’m none of these things, I know I’m just sticking up for the residents of this city.

“It is very unfair what people are saying, I’m not prepared to sit down and accept what John Allcock is saying.

“I don’t care what people’s sexuality is, I care about the city.”

The 80-year-old will shift her focus back to her ward now

The Argus understands that most Labour councillors had, at first, backed Cllr Barnett’s mayoral nomination but that their position shifted after a party meeting.

Cllr Allcock said Labour wanted to resolve the issue privately and there was “never any plan to vote Cllr Barnett down publicly at annual council, or to hurt or embarrass her in any public forum” and suggestions otherwise are “false”.

Cllr Barnett said while it was disappointing not to be taking over the mayoral role, it meant she could continue her work in Hangleton and Knoll.

She added: “It would have been an honour to be the mayor but I wouldn’t have had the time for my residents in Hangleton.

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed, it would have been nice to have been the mayor and have my grandchildren be able to say their nan was a mayor.

“But I’m busy in my ward and I wouldn’t have had the same time for that.”

She also clarified that, contrary to what had been suggested, she did not say homeless people should be “hosed down” but said the square outside Brighton Town Hall should be pressure-washed because of the “mess left behind”.

In 2019 The Argus reported how rough sleepers, who had been offered accommodation by Brighton and Hove City Council, had pitched tents outside the town hall, angering nearby businesses.

In response, Conservative councillor Dawn Barnett said: “If I owned one of the shops in the square and owned a pressure washer, I would turn it on them.”

Following that story, she said: “I want to apologise to anybody who might have been affected by that comment.

“I didn’t literally mean people.

“But I can understand how it might have been interpreted like that."