City Elections 2003 - St. Peters & North Laine
Greens select business and community experienced team to contest 'Greenest' city centre ward in UK
The Greens have selected three prospective candidates with business and community experience to contest the new St Peters & North Laine Ward in next May's city council elections, and say the election will offer voters a "referendum" on New Labour's 16 year rule in Brighton & Hove.
 Kensington Place, North Laine, Brighton as seen from Gloucester Road |
Serving Green councillors Pete West and Rik Child are retiring. Cllr Child recently announced he was stepping down after he said he was unable to afford to live on a city councillor's £8,000 annual allowance.
Sue Paskins has 20 years' experience in local business as a Brighton hotelier and is a former Chair of the Brighton & Hove Hotels Association. She is also active in the Save Our Seafront campaign, which opposes a giant retail complex in front of the West Pier.
Sue Paskins, 53, and Simon Williams, 31, will fight alongside serving Green city councillor Keith Taylor, 48, who has been reselected, to contest the three seats in the new St Peters & North Laine city council ward, which is already represented by Green councillors and is one of the Greenest voting areas in the UK (1). |
 Green Team: Simon Williams, Keith Taylor and Sue Paskins. Photo (c) Alexis Maryon |
Simon Williams is a manager in a healthcare communications consultancy and brings several years experience of campaigning on environmental and health issues. He is also an active campaigner in Brighton's lesbian and gay community and for two years was secretary of the local Green Party lesbian & gay group.
Cllr Keith Taylor, a local businessman before his election in 1999, is a founder member of Brighton Urban Design and Development (BUDD) which is campaigning for a community-centred based development for the Brighton station site.
Keith has served as convener of the Green Group on Brighton & Hove City Council for two years and was the Green Party's parliamentary candidate in the 2001 general election in Brighton Pavilion constituency where he achieved the highest ever Green vote in a parliamentary election in the UK. Last year, Keith was instrumental in developing the improved committee system, which has been adopted by the city council in place of the directly elected mayor.
 Street in Brighton's North Laine |
Commenting on the forthcoming election campaign, Simon Williams said, "We have been listening hard to people in St Peters & North Laine, one of the most vibrant areas of Brighton. We are campaigning hard on the bread and butter issues which New Labour has forgotten in its love affair with big business, celebrity and media spin. We will make this election a referendum on Labour's record. The timer on their 16 year 'monopoly' rule in Brighton & Hove is now ticking. If elected, we will work with all the parties to set the city on a more inclusive and socially just path - a city where everyone can afford to live, not just the lucky or the wealthy."
Sue Paskins said, "Year after year the people of Brighton & Hove have had to put up with rising council tax and deteriorating services, while many people are being priced out of the city altogether. The Greens will work with all the parties to find solutions to housing shortage, high council tax, homelessness, traffic congestion, crime, graffiti, poor street cleaning, poor education standards. We must also make the council listen and consult with local residents who always seem to be ignored, as the proposals for the development of the seafront by the West Pier shows."
Cllr Keith Taylor said, "As the Green Team, we want to build on the excellent work of the serving Green councillors who have made a real difference. I'm happy to stand on my record, and if people want more of the same straight and honest talking, to see real alternatives to the 'business as usual' ideas of the grey parties, then they should vote Green every time - with more elected Greens we could hold the balance of power and then rapid progress towards achieving a really sustainable city could be made."
Notes
1. St Peters & North Laine Ward is the centre of Brighton Pavilion Constituency which recorded the highest Green vote in a parliamentary election ever in the UK in the 2001 general election (9.35%). In the 1999 council elections, the Greens achieved 50% of the vote in the old St Peters ward which makes up half of the new ward.
Biographies
Sue Paskins
Sue qualified as an accountant and worked for several years as a senior accountant in a large leisure company. She has lived in the city center for 20 years. She and her husband renovated the Granville Hotel in the 1980s, one of the first hotels to offer an organic / fair trade menu. Sue has served as Chair of the Kings cliff Society and Chaired the Brighton & Hove Hotels Association. Sue has a strong interest in planning, budgets and regeneration.
Keith Taylor
Cllr Taylor was elected in May 1999 and is Convener of the Green Group has been a member of several city council committees including Planning and the Scrutiny Board for Culture and Lifelong Learning. He has also served as Green spokesperson for Education, Regeneration and the Arts. He has played an active role in anti-mayor campaign and in June 2001 won the highest ever Green vote (nearly 10%) in parliamentary election. He is a leading member of BUDD the community pressure group advocates a socially just development for the Brighton Station Site. He is also a regional liaison officer for Caroline Lucas, the Green MEP for Brighton & Hove.
He has two grown up children and has lived in Brighton since the late seventies when he moved to start an import - export business. He lives in the Hanover area of Brighton and is a keen cook and lover of music and the arts.
Simon Williams
After originally training as a lawyer, Simon has worked in public relations in the health sector including as a press officer for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the professional association for local government environmental health officers. He has business experience and is a manager in a healthcare communications company. He also has experience of campaigning on environmental and health issues including the BSE crisis and GM foods. Simon is active in the lesbian & gay community and has worked for a number of community groups including the Terrence Higgins Trust. He has also served as Secretary of the Green Party lesbian and gay group. He has a strong interest in public health, policing, community safety and civil liberties.
