Brighton's Elaine Hills on her General Election priorities

Elaine Hills, Green Party candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, said more money needs to be given to local authorities so that decisions are made by local people “rather than someone in Westminster”.

Ms Hills, a lecturer at the University of Brighton, was a councillor for Hanover and Elm Grove from 2019 to 2023.

The Preston Park resident said she had never been someone who had dreamed of becoming an MP but people had encouraged her to take the leap.

“I really really care about people in this city and I really care about Kemptown,” she said.

“I feel that they deserve a Green presence there.

“I think the Greens have proven themselves over the years in Brighton.

“I think in parts of Kemptown people are very Green.

“They want politicians that will do the right thing, who have a conscience.

“What people care about is ‘I’m working, I want to be able to eat, I want to be able to do things, I want to go on holiday, I want to look after my children’.

“That’s what matters to me.

“Social justice and of course environmental justice is a huge thing.

“Doing the right thing for people is doing the right thing for people.

“It’s so amiss that of the two main parties in these debates they are not even mentioning the most important existential crisis that we’ve ever had.

“I care about these things too much so I thought I’d put myself forward.”

Ms Hills has lived in Brighton for 25 years (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

The 56-year-old believes it will be Labour who forms the next government and that it is important to have a Green MP to hold them to account.

She said the Greens have a plan that “stacks up financially” to insulate homes, take action to clean up the sea, mend “crumbling” schools, hire more nurses and increase the pay of junior doctors.

Ms Hills, who has lived in Brighton for 25 years, said access to healthcare is one of the biggest issues facing the constituency and said more funding must be put into the system to ensure patients can access appointments early and with greater ease.

“If people have health problems they escalate and it ends up costing more money,” she said.

“We want people to be able to see a doctor within a few days.

“It’s about dignity as well.”

She also said the system must better appreciate doctors to ensure staff retainment.

“I was talking to a junior doctor and she explained how difficult it is for them,” she said.

“They’re working incredibly long hours and the pay has gone down for them in real terms.”

Another issue, she said, is housing and child poverty.

She would like to see new houses built to Passivhaus standards -meaning the design of houses are so well constructed and insulated they retain heat from the sun.

“They’re cheap to run and a big thing people are having to pay for is there bills,” she said.

“They’re getting higher and higher.”

Ms Hills slammed Labour for not promising to get rid of the two-child cap on child benefits.

“People are really really struggling,” he said.

“It’s leaving children in poverty.

“There are two areas in the constituency that are in the top ten poorest in the country.

“We need to do lots of things with schools, more breakfast clubs.

“We want to create a more even playing field. We need places for young people to go.

“We have to keep money in services and let communities decide what they want for their children.

“We have to address it.”

Ms Hills was a councillor for four years (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Another priority for her would be tackling the “disgusting” state of the sewerage network.

“This country has sold residents short on water,” she said. “Privatisation is something I disagree with. Having a monopoly on a public service is so wrong.

“We’ve got toothless authorities. Ofwat is not doing enough to make them pay.

“A fine here and there they can dig into their very deep pockets, pay the fine and continue to put sewage in our sea.

“It’s disgusting. People have told me they’ve got ill. We want to nationalise water.”

She said the Victorian infrastructure needs to be updated as well as the creation of more soft land to reduce rain runoff.

“We need more rain gardens, we need more sustainable drainage, we need legislation,” she said.

“We are over concreted.”

She disagreed with comments made by Labour candidate Chris Ward last month that the race in Kemptown was between himself and Tory candidate Khobi Vallis.

“Campaigning’s going really well,” she said.

“A lot of people were disappointed Lloyd Russell-Moyle wasn’t standing.

“I think the Tories are toast. People feel let down massively by the Tories so I think it’s between Labour and the Greens.

“I think it would be great to have another Green voice in Parliament.”