Six candidates are standing in a by-election in Queen’s Park for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) on Thursday 18 September 2025.
The seat became vacant when Labour councillor Tristram Burden resigned, citing a conflict of interest in his new job as a local authority inspector at the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The candidates are Simon Charleton (Labour), Sunny Choudhury (Conservative), Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan (Liberal Democrat), Adrian Hart (Independent), Marina Lademacher (Green) and John Shepherd (Reform UK).
Each candidate has answered questions about local issues and why electors should vote for them.
Here are the responses from Liberal Democrat Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan, 45, a freelance translator who lives in Queen’s Park.
Why do you want to be a councillor?
I would like to become a councillor because I enjoy making a difference in and for my local community.
As a strong advocate for community engagement, I would like to make sure residents have a voice in local decision-making.
I’m dedicated to improving local services like public transport, recycling and access to libraries and other public resources.
Finally, I believe in the importance of transparency and accountability.
As a councillor, I would work to build trust between the council and the community and contribute to a better future for residents.
Why do you want to stand in this ward?
I live and work in this ward and I walk my dog in Queen’s Park.
It would be an honour to represent this vibrant and diverse community and play my role to improve local issues that matter to Queen’s Park residents, for instance, Brighton and Hove’s appalling recycling rate and the cost of a single bus fare are not a good look for a city that takes pride in being modern and eco-friendly.
What are the key issues specific to this ward?
Like in the rest of Brighton and Hove, Queen’s Park ward is grappling with a housing and cost-of-living crisis.
Residents, in particular families and young people, are struggling to find affordable housing.
Anti-social behaviour, including vandalism and substance abuse, is continuously getting worse and having an impact on people’s quality of life.
Speeding vehicles are a menace and urgent traffic-calming measures are needed, especially in Queen’s Park Road and Freshfield Road.
We need to offer real support to people to ensure these issues are dealt with urgently.
The number of primary and secondary age children is falling, resulting in a growing number of empty places and reduced funding for schools. What should the council do?
With fewer children and less funding for schools, the council must act strategically to ensure high-quality education continues while adapting to demographic change.
In the long term, the council needs a school place planning strategy based on accurate data to guide future decisions.
Closing schools, which the council has already done to two primary schools in the city, is not the answer.
There should be a fair reduction of PANs (published admission numbers) across the city to minimise the threat of closure to any school.
It should also create a financial management plan, reallocate funds and find alternative uses for empty buildings, such as community centres.
Brighton and Hove has a housing crisis. Where should new homes be built?
We are in a national housing crisis and the impact is especially strong in desirable areas like Brighton and Hove.
The government must significantly increase the construction of council housing.
To tackle the crisis, we need to ensure homes are built after planning permission is granted, reduce the number of empty and second homes and hold developers accountable for affordable housing targets.
Prioritising brownfield sites is essential, such as the old gasworks to the south of the ward, to create affordable homes for younger generations.
However, this specific site should only be developed after an independent inspection confirms it’s free from contamination.
Local government is being restructured in Sussex. New councils will be expected to serve a population of at least 300,000 and possibly 500,000. Brighton and Hove has a population of about 280,000. Should Brighton and Hove expand to the east, west or both?
The key issue is the council isn’t really listening and is putting forward proposals based on what Labour colleagues are telling them rather than what residents want.
Whatever comes from devolution, we need Brighton to get a genuinely better deal, not warm words.
That means local investment in education, better transport connections linking the east of our city like Queen’s Park and Kemp Town to the centre.
If we are to have real devolution, we should not be seeing libraries shut by our council.
Whether we go east or west should be in a real consultation with people in those communities.
Who should be the first directly elected mayor of Sussex and why?
Lib Dems are currently selecting our candidate and look forward to sharing news.
Whoever we pick, the Lib Dems are the party championing Sussex, from the South Downs to Brighton and beyond.
We’ll fight for better public transport, prioritise the NHS and social care and fight sewage dumping in our seas and rivers.
Support for the Lib Dems is growing right across Sussex and we are clearly the only party with the broad support to beat the right-wing parties right across our amazing county.
…
Polling day is on Thursday 18 September, with polling stations due to be open from 7am to 10pm.
The polling stations are at
- Craven Vale Resource Centre, Craven Road
- St Luke’s Church, Queen’s Park Road
- Barnard Community Centre, St John’s Mount, Mount Pleasant
- Millwood Community Centre, Nelson Row, Carlton Hill
To vote in person at a polling station, electors must bring photo identification (ID).
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