Political parties and candidates have been making their final pitches to voters ahead of tomorrow’s local election.

Voters from across the city will go to the polls to elect 54 councillors for the next four years.

The campaign has seen both Labour and the Greens battle to secure majority control of Brighton and Hove City Council, something not achieved by any party since 2003.

Leader of the Green-led administration Phelim Mac Cafferty said that he is finding a “welcome reception on the doorsteps” for the party.

He said: “Every day we are finding new support in even more neighbourhoods across the city. Residents like our message of hope for Brighton and Hove and our manifesto for action.

“When Labour found themselves unable to govern in July 2020, we stepped up and took over the running of the council at the height of the pandemic crisis - and residents respect that.

“We have had to make the tough decisions to maintain vital public services in the face of continuing government cuts.

“In just over two years, it would have been impossible to do everything we would like or obtain the funds to maintain the city environment, but we will continue to work around the clock to put the city first.”

Labour has urged residents to “make history” and elect a Labour majority council tomorrow.

Bella Sankey, who won a landslide victory against the Conservatives in a by-election in December, said that the party had won an “energetic, people-powered and positive campaign” across the city.

She said: “We have knocked on the vast majority of doors at least once and received a warm welcome from Portslade to Hangleton, through Hanover to Rottingdean.

“We are humbly asking voters to put their trust in us, to use all their votes for Labour Party candidates and to help us make history by returning the first majority Labour council in this city for two decades.

“If we succeed, we will listen, take action and work to make Brighton and Hove the best city to live in and visit in the UK.”

LOCAL ELECTIONS 2023:

Also battling for election are the Conservative Party, defending council seats from encroachment by both Labour and the Greens.

The party’s leader Steve Bell said that, despite the Tories performing poorly in national polls, residents are continuing to back the party.

He said: “We have found that our supporters are staying with us, despite the national scene.

“The response is much better this election than it was in 2019 - the last time these elections were fought.

“This proves that campaigning and only discussing local issues with our electorate which directly affect them has proved to be successful.”

LOCAL ELECTIONS MANIFESTOS

Bridget Fishleigh, who was elected as the city’s first independent councillor for more than a decade, is running for re-election under the banner of the Brighton and Hove Independents, a group she founded. Eight other candidates are running for the party across the city.

She said her group’s candidates have been “welcomed on the doorsteps of residents who recognise that change is much needed and long overdue”.

Cllr Fishleigh said: “Both Labour and the Greens want a majority council and thus total control of the city - but do they deserve it?

“Just look at the point-blank refusal from both parties to accept responsibility for the various entirely avoidable self-made disasters that have been inflicted on our community during the past 12 years.

“When residents elect a Brighton and Hove Independents candidate, they can be sure of a genuine advocate in the council chamber who will fight for their best interests only - with no national agenda or party dogma.”

The Argus:

The Liberal Democrats are fighting to regain a seat on the city council for the first since 2011.

Stewart Stone, the party’s local chairman, said: “Voting Liberal Democrat will breathe fresh air into the way the council is run, through listening to the local community and acting decisively on the issues that matter to them.

“From radical ideas to solve transport issues and pollution, such as a tram system along the seafront, to protecting our beaches from sewage, improving education facilities and the mental health of young people, and working to make rapid improvements to housing quality and quantity.

“Vote Liberal Democrat for a fairer, cleaner, safer and even more vibrant city.”

People casting their ballot tomorrow are required to show a form of photo ID at polling stations in order to vote. Accepted forms of ID include passports, driving licences, EU national ID cards, and older person’s bus passes.

Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm tomorrow.