Jeremy Corbyn is about to take to the stage in Brighton – or rather, the actors portraying him in a Fringe Festival show promising “audience interaction” and “swearing” are. But while Young Corbyn: An Origin Story doesn’t open until next week, the Labour leader’s position on the vexed national issue of the day is already part of a quiet drama playing out on the doorsteps of one of England’s most remain-leaning cities.
“Brexit is a problem and we need to get it sorted or else we could have an existential crisis that could well split our vote, and then the party,” says Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown.
The task of explaining Labour’s position on another referendum is sending some voters to sleep, or worse, repelling them, he adds. It’s one of the reasons why the battle for Brighton and Hove council – where no party has had overall control since 2003 – is one of the closest in the country and why Labour (19 councillors), Greens (11) and the Tories (21) are all potentially in the hunt to emerge as the largest party in Thursday’s local elections.
Russell-Moyle has warned that defeat could be a “final nail in Labour’s coffin” and weaken Corbyn. “I think that we are going to see some surprising results on the night where we may take seats from the Tories for example, but I think the Greens might really push us,” he said.
“If they do gain from us that’s where the national picture comes in. We gained under Jeremy by enthusing working class voters and the liberal south. If we are losing the liberal south then we are in danger of losing that coalition.”
While locally acute issues such as housing are to the fore in all three manifestos, it was the national and global issues of Brexit and climate change that loomed large during canvassing sessions.
“We really want to see improvements to recycling. Everyone would think that Brighton would have it sorted when it come to composting, for example, but you have to do it yourself,” said Carla Judge, a resident of Hanover and Elm Grove, a ward home to a significant number of professional and public sector workers.
“If I knew what side Labour was on then it would make a difference as well in terms of Brexit,” added Judge after her partner had a long conversation with Danielle Cornish-Spencer, a humanitarian worker hoping to gain one of two Green-held seats.
Cornish-Spencer is also a member of Momentum, which is both an electoral trump card and at the centre of tensions within the local party. The pro-Corbyn campaign groups’s role as an electoral asset came into play at the weekend when it held an event on Brighton beach to promote what it views as a genuinely radical manifesto promising to make Brighton carbon neutral by 2030, quadruple the number of council houses and create an enforcement unit to go after rogue landlords.
As for divisions, Cornish-Spencer is campaigning alongside the ward’s sitting Labour councillor, Emma Daniel, who insisted that well reported divisions within Labour were exaggerated.
“The idea that there has been a huge shift in Brighton Labour is not correct. It’s been soft left and that remains the case,” she said.
After she and Cornish-Spencer move off however, a Labour member and former candidate who was sweeping outside his home described the atmosphere within the local party as “febrile” and told of seeing councillors come in for “terrible abuse” at branch meetings. “Respected representatives are coming under pressure and being forced out. I’m sure I would have been if I had been elected,” said Chris Taylor, who added he would not be voting for Momentum candidates.
Contrasting with the Labour electoral machine, Conservative efforts are lower in profile, although the party is still focusing on winning back the seats Labour took from it in leafier parts of Hove. It also hopes to retain the seat of Anne Meadows, a former Labour councillor who joined the Tories in protest at antisemitic abuse.
Which seats are up for grabs?
More than 8,200 seats are up for grabs – and half of them are Conservative seats – so the elections will be a key test for Theresa May. Candidates are contesting 248 English local councils and all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland.
There are also elections for six directly elected mayors – in Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and North of Tyne. No elections are taking place in London, Scotland or Wales.
More than half the councils – 134 – are controlled by the Tories, 67 by Labour. Seven are held by the Lib Dems and 35 have no overall control. The remaining five are new councils, owing to local authority mergers.
When will we get the results?
About half of councils’ votes are being counted overnight, with results expected from midnight. The other half will start being counted on Friday morning. Turnout is expected to be low – multiple party sources have said there is a general feeling of apathy and anger with politicians from across the spectrum.
What are the key battlegrounds for the Tories?
The Tories have quietly briefed that they are expecting a drubbing, which could mean council gains for both Labour and the Lib Dems.
The Tories are hoping to make some gains in places where they are just a few seats from winning control – just one seat is needed to gain Scarborough or two to gain Thurrock. Dudley and Walsall are also councils that will be a narrow fight between Labour and the Tories.
What are the key battlegrounds for Labour?
Key targets for Labour are Calderdale, Redcar and Cleveland and Trafford, all Labour minority councils, as well as Stoke-on-Trent and Derby, two councils controlled by a coalition of Tories, independents and smaller parties. Ukip is putting up a big fight in Derby, however.
Labour could also snatch Peterborough back from the Tories by forming a coalition with the Lib Dems if both parties have a good night. They also have high hopes of increasing their narrow majority in Plymouth.
Jessica Elgot, chief political correspondent
Steve Bell, deputy leader of the council’s Conservative group, insisted voters remained more concerned about issues such as school funding and adult social care, but admitted that the “shambles” around Brexit could have an impact, saying: “There may be a lot of good councillors who will lose their seats because of the national scene.”
Brighton’s Tories had evolved as a different breed to those in other parts of the country, he suggested. “We have doors shut on us and get called names. We’re the ones who get that reaction. Is it any more than normal? I would say no.”
Doors were also being knocked earlier in the day in central Brighton by the candidates for the Green party, which is hoping to make gains again after losing control of what in 2011 became the first UK council to be led by the party. It was a moment of history that was to come undone amid internal discord and a bin strike.
“We did make mistakes, but it was a different time, and being the first Green council came with big challenges and pressures,” said Sue Shanks, who was a councillor in that administration and is now seeking to return to office.
“There’s a lot to be proud of, personally it was in resisting academisation of schools.”
She and other candidates found their message was relatively well received on a street in the St Peter’s and North Laine ward, where one of the first residents to open their door is Philip Harlande, 51.
He said: “I had been planning to move to Spain so I’m very concerned and will probably vote Green as a result. Six years ago [the Brighton MP] Caroline Lucas knocked and I told her I’d be voting Tory.”
Brighton and Hove at a glance
• Was the country’s first Green party-controlled council (with minority control) until elections of 2015.
• Although a Labour-run council, the Conservatives are currently the largest party following a series of defections and byelections
• All seats are up for grabs in a local authority area that is currently represented by 21 Tories, 19 Labour, 11 Greens and two independents.
• Recorded England’s third highest vote against Brexit outside of London, as it voted remain with 68.6% majority.
• Local MPs are the Greens’ Caroline Lucas for Brighton Pavilion, Labour’s Lloyd Russell-Moyle for Brighton Kemptown, and Labour’s Peter Kyle for Hove.
