Brighton By-Election Special: How solid are the Queen's Park candidates on LGBTQ+ issues?

A by-election will take place in Brighton’s Queen’s Park ward on Thursday 18 September 2025, following the resignation of Labour councillor Tristram Burden.

Cllr Burden, 46, who was elected in the 2023 local elections and announced his resignation on 29 July, said the following in his resignation statement:

“With a heavy heart I sent in my resignation for the council seat of Queen’s Park ward, Brighton, today due to a conflict of interest with my new job. I’m so proud to have represented the people of Queen’s Park, to have served as lead member for adult services and in the cabinet.

“Being a councillor must be supplemented with a regular job or other income and until December of last year I had the good fortune of being able to balance both working life and public service.

“After a long search, I finally started a new job in late June and declared from the outset my position as an elected member of a local authority.

“But after lengthy deliberation internally and with third-party advice, my new employer has now concluded that continuing as an elected member is a conflict of interest with my new role.

“Personal circumstances and the spiralling cost of living mean I must stand down to ensure I can sustain a decent quality of life for me and my family."

In his resignation letter, Tristram Burden confirmed that he is still a member of the Labour Party and will continue to be so.

Scene Magazine will be covering the contest from an LGBTQ+ perspective — a first step in our commitment to providing election coverage that reflects the priorities, challenges and questions of LGBTQ+ voters across the UK.

In two weeks' time, Queen's Park voters will cast their ballots in a by-election that is likely to be influenced by Westminster politics and the performance of parties at a national level.

Historically, Queen's Park has been a close race between Labour and the Green Party. Labour currently holds both seats in the ward.

The candidates contesting the vacant seat are listed below:

• Simon Charleton – Labour Party
• Sunny Choudhury – Conservative Party
• Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan – Liberal Democrats
• Adrian Hart – Independent
• Marina Lademacher – Green Party
• John Shepherd – Reform UK 

We have contacted all candidates standing in the by-election, except the candidate for the Brighton & Hove Independent Party, as we were unable to obtain the contact details of either him or the party's press office. Each candidate has been invited to submit a piece outlining:

• Their LGBTQ+ policy agenda and commitments
• Their priorities for Queen’s Park ward
• Why they believe LGBTQ+ voters in Queen’s Park should support them over others

We will publish these contributions in the run-up to polling day, alongside updates on the campaign.

This by-election marks the start of Scene's new election coverage efforts, which is focused on providing you with the answers you deserve from the people who seek to represent you.