Brighton Kemptown candidate Chris Ward talks about his priorities

Chris Ward was catapulted into the contest following the shock suspension of the constituency’s former Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who was running for re-election, after a complaint was made about his behaviour. Mr Russell-Moyle denies the claims, saying they were politically motivated.

The Labour Party announced the day after Mr Russell-Moyle’s departure that Mr Ward, a former aide and speechwriter for Keir Starmer of six years, would take on the constituency candidacy.

The 41-year-old, who grew up in Brighton and whose parents live in Southwick, said he has wanted to be an MP for a long time having joined Labour when he was 18.

He worked within the party in different roles for many years.

Mr Ward grew up in the area (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Mr Ward, who lives in south London currently, said when the opportunity arose in his hometown he was “delighted”.

“My roots are in this city and I want my future to be in this city,” he said.

“The selection process is done by the National Executive Committee.

“I had no say in that.

“I can’t speak to the process and how that happened.

“But when you grow up somewhere and you work for a party all your life and they ask you to be the candidate in that city you’re obviously going to jump at the chance.

"I grew up in Brighton, my parents grew up in Peacehaven.

“I’ve been going to the Albion since I was a kid.

“We’re down here all the time for friends, family and football.

“The idea is to get a place down here as soon as possible.

“Brighton’s my home."

The Albion season ticket holder, who attended Worthing College, faced some opposition following his appointment.

“It’s fair to say it’s not been ideal," he said.

“No one would have chosen how this played out."

More than 200 people signed a petition calling on the NEC to give Kemp Town residents a say on who should replace Mr Russell-Moyle.

And a Labour campaign event at St George’s Church was marred by protesters who had concerns about the party's views on the war in Gaza as well as Mr Ward’s previous job as director at lobbying firm Hanbury Strategy.

Mr Ward described the incident as “unfortunate” but said that it has not deterred him from getting out into the community to campaign.

He said while at Hanbury, he did not work on any fossil fuel accounts and was brought in to advise on Labour.

“I really enjoyed working with Hanbury and it really helped me to understand how business thinks about politicians,” he said.

“Getting a much wider perspective of how business thinks is really helpful for someone being an MP, particularly in a city that needs to attract investment.

“Business is struggling and I think it’s really important to have done that.

“Hanbury has a whole range of clients.

“It has a smorgasbord of political views and I was brought in to do advice on Labour.

“It wasn’t lobbying in that regard it was more strategic advice.”

Mr Ward has been out on the campaign trail canvassing, even bringing his ten-month-old son with him, holding meetings with party members and councillors and attending hustings.

He said campaigning has been going “really well”.

While talking to voters the issues of housing, the state of public services-particularly the NHS- and climate change were recurring themes.

These are issues he is eager to champion, he said.

On housing, he wants to work with the Labour-run council to “get building” and wants to see standards in the rental sector improved.

He reiterated Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million more homes and said the party has a “big plan” for rental reform including tackling no fault evictions.

“Housing’s the first big one,” he said.

“It’s almost the link that ties together a lot of the other problems we see.

“Whether that be education, mental health problems, lots of things link to housing.

“The house prices and rents here are, apart from London, the highest in the country.

"People are being priced out of the area and people are living in unsuitable, unaffordable rental properties.

“We’ve got to use brownfield sites where we can and we’ve got to get empty homes into use more quickly.

“But we also need to use grey field sites, in between the green belt and brownfield.”

Mr Ward said homelessness is “not inevitable” and accused the Tories of “giving up” on the issue.

He said he could not see any reason why homelessness cannot be tackled in the city with “targeted” resources.

Mr Ward admitted the start of the campaign was not ideal (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

“It wasn’t like this when I was a kid,” he said.

“There’s a generation of people growing up who think homelessness is normal, whether it’s in Brighton or London.

“It’s a political choice and a lack of support for local communities.”

Another issue close to his heart is child poverty.

“One in five kids in this constituency grow up in poverty,” he said.

“We’re the sixth richest country in the world.

“That is a political choice.

“That’s something I really want to focus on.

“We have two or three of the most deprived wards in Sussex.

“They’ve been neglected over the last ten years by the government.

“I really want to work as part of that Labour government to tackle that.”

He described Brighton as a “vibrant” and “diverse” city, but one that has been neglected by the Conservative government.

“It’s a fantastic city,” he said.

“There are particular challenges such as housing and homelessness.

“What’s the reason for that?

“14 years of spending cuts from the Conservative government.”

He believes the fight for the constituency is between him and Conservative candidate Khobi Vallis and said voters face a “once in a generation chance at this election”.

“If you look at what the Tories are offering, they’ve just given up being a serious party,” he said.

“There are only two people who could win in Kemptown, Tory or Labour.

“Any votes for another party helps the Tories here.

“If we let the Tories have another five years I dread to think where services across the country will go.”