Ward profile: East Brighton

East Brighton: Candidates, 2011 election results, and a profile of the ward.

Candidates (Three seats)

David Plant (Conservative)

Jan Young (Conservative)

Gail Woodcock (Conservative)

Paul Philo (Green, second choice)

Marie Sansford (Green, first choice)

Matt Traini (Green, third choice)

Maggie Barradell (Labour) - @maggiebarradell

*Gill Mitchell (Labour)

*Warren Morgan (Labour) - @warrenmorgan

Paul Chandler (Liberal Democrats)

Julie Donovan (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)

Poll watch

East Brighton is not so much a ward - with candidates vying for the votes of the electorate - as a Labour fiefdom, where the party's "selectorate" determines who will join Warren Morgan and Gill Mitchell in the ranks of the Labour Group.

The excitement of democratic politics in this most working-class part of the city lies in finding out who is the latest candidate to have risen without trace in the Brighton and Hove District Labour Party.

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Councillor Craig Turton stood down in 2012 for health reasons; Councillor Chaun Wilson emerged, only to announce last year she was unable to continue for family reasons; on May 7, the new name on the block is Barradell, Maggie Barradell.  It is a familar name; her husband is John Barradell, former chief executive of Brighton and Hove City Council and now chief executive of the City of London Corporation.

It's fair to say that the branch is not the most active in the city. Indeed, some have wondered about what would happen if two of Labour's most able and determined councillors were to move on and get on with real life.

There's no sign of that happening any time soon.

It's a feature of city politics that nearly a quarter of the 13-strong Labour Group - the smallest on the council - come from this single ward. And the Labour leader is elected only by Labour councillors, not by the 1,600 party members in the city.

We should mention the other candidates. But with Labour majorities of 1,000 or more, it's not really worth it.

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2012 by-election results (Thursday, October 18 2012, after the resignation of Councillor Craig Turton)

Candidates                           Votes (%)    

Chaun Wilson (Labour) 1,596 (56%)

Joe Miller (Conservative) 531 (19%)

Carlie Goldsmith (Green) 456 (16%)

Sabiha Choudhury (UKIP) 148 (5%)

Dominic Sokalski (Liberal Democrats) 59 (2%)

Jon Redford (Trade Union and Socialists Against Cuts) 55 (2%)

2011 election results

Candidates                 Votes (%)    

Gill Mitchell (Labour) 2,059 (18%)

Warren Gavin Morgan (Labour) 1,862 (17%)

Craig Turton (Labour) 1,616 (14%)

Alison Ghanimi (Green) 955 (9%)

Peter Booth (Conservative) 940 (8%)

Chris Sandland (Conservative) 826 (7%)

Lianna Etkind (Green) 815 (7%)

Kelvin Poplett (Conservative) 803 (7%)

Pip Tindall (Green) 627 (6%)

Paul Jonathan Chandler (Liberal Democrats) 323 (3%)

Bruce Graham Neave (Liberal Democrats) 218 (2%)

Bill North (Trade Union and Socialists Against Cuts) 142 (1%)

Factfile (Source: Census 2011)

Households: 6,561

Density (people per hectare): 77

Women: 50% (6,976)

Men: 50% (7,107)

Average age: 37

Higher managerial occupations: 8.5% (973)

Unemployed: 10% (705)

White: 88.9% (12,526)

Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: 1.9% (268)

Asian/Asian British: 4.1% (571)

Number who cannot speak English well: 168

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Dependent children in household (% of all households): 25.7%

Christians: 45%

No religion: 41%

Number of same-sex civil partnerships: 235

Divorced: 12%

Living as co-habiting couple: 15.9%

Married: 27%

One family - all aged 65 and over: 3.9%

Lone parent - with dependent children: 11%

No adults in employment, with dependent children: 8%

Long-term unemployed: 2.5%

Activities limited a lot by poor health: 10.9%

No cars or vans in household: 49%

No qualifications: 25.6%

Full-time students aged 18 and over: 6.7%

One person in household with long-term health problem/disability - with dependent children: 5.9%

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