> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Brighton & Hove: What Queen's Park by-election candidates have to say about LGBTQ+ rights - URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/brighton-hove-what-queens-park-by-election-candidates-have-to-say-about-lgbtq-rights/ - Published: 2026-09-23T17:39:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-23T17:39:48.000Z - Author: Leslie Clarke - Tags: UK, Politics #### Local by-elections rarely generate excitement beyond the boundaries of the ward faced with said by-election. There are two reasons why we are reporting on this particular by-election: Firstly, Brighton & Hove is Scene Magazine's home turf. Secondly, Queen's Park ward has one of the highest percentages of LGBQT+ residents in the country and borders Brighton & Hove's LGBQT+ neighbourhood, Kemptown. According to the 2021 Census data, 18.51% of those aged 16 and over identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Other. Queen's Park elected two Labour councillors in 2023, but has since struggled to retain its council representatives. This is the third by-election in the ward since the 2023 local elections, caused by councillors resigning. [Milla Gauge](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/labour-councillor-milla-gauge-quits-brighton-hove-council-after-feeling-ignored/)'s resignation caused tomorrow's by-election. The candidates for the Queen's Park by-election are: - [Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan](https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26562471.meet-brighton-queens-park-by-election-lib-dem-candidate/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) (Liberal Democrats) - [Steve Gladwin](https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26557637.labour-candidate-standing-brighton-queens-park-by-election/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) (Labour Party) - [John Shepherd](https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26561481.brighton-reform-candidate-standing-queens-park-by-election/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) (Reform UK) - [Stefan Sönke Speckesser](https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26562655.meet-conservative-candidate-queens-park/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) (Conservative and Unionist Party) - [Mark Strong](https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/26559494.queens-park-green-candidate-brighton-councillor/?ref=scenemag.co.uk) (Green Party) Yesterday, we approached all parties with the same set of questions for a quick-fire round on how the candidates position themselves on LGBTQ+ rights, particularly those of the TNBI community. We will update this article as soon as we receive new responses. Happy eve of polls! ## Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan – Liberal Democrats ![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/Rudi-Dikty-1.jpeg) Image: supplied **What motivated you to put your name forward in this Queen's Park by-election?** Queen's Park deserves a councillor who is genuinely embedded in the community and committed to reliable public services, rather than one caught up in constant political churn. As a director representing residential leaseholders at 37 Edward Street, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is to have a strong advocate who simply wants to get things working. Voters are exhausted by political infighting and the recent turnover on the council. I want to offer a reset—focusing on competence, fixing our deteriorating pavements, sorting out refuse and recycling failures, and tackling anti-social behaviour. When I'm out walking my pug mix Emma or playing in the local parks' tennis league, residents tell me they just want consistent, stable representation that delivers on the basics. **Brighton & Hove is home to one of the highest percentages of LGBTQ+ people nationwide. What political offers do you have for the LGBTQ+ community in Queen's Park?** The Liberal Democrats offer common sense and practical solutions over exhausting culture wars. For the LGBTQ+ community in Queen's Park, that means ensuring our local public services are genuinely inclusive and responsive to specific health, housing, and safety needs. We are focused on outcomes, not on inflammatory rhetoric. Whether it’s supporting local LGBTQ+ businesses, ensuring local care services understand the unique needs of older LGBTQ+ residents, or funding community spaces, our offer is rooted in everyday dignity and results-driven local governance. **The increasingly polarised debate surrounding the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code of Practice and the rights of transgender people in the UK is causing real harm and anxiety within the transgender and non-binary community. What message would you like to give to trans people, and what steps would you take to champion the dignity and rights of trans people in your ward?** My message to the trans and non-binary community is clear: you deserve to live in safety and with dignity, and your rights are human rights. The Liberal Democrats fundamentally reject the premise that protecting women and protecting our trans community are mutually exclusive; both are essential to a fair society. The updated EHRC Code of Practice has created unacceptable confusion, fear, and legal risk, leaving trans people without access to safe facilities and risking the policing of women who do not look "female enough" at toilet doors. Nationally, the Liberal Democrats have just passed a commitment this September to demand a new, workable Code of Practice and a cross-party parliamentary review. Locally, I will ensure Brighton & Hove council policies provide safe, dignified access to public facilities for everyone, shielding our residents from the harmful fallout of these manufactured political battles. **If elected, what are your first steps and initiatives to enhance the safety of LGBTQ+ people locally?** Enhancing safety requires practical, immediate action. First, I will work to tackle the basics of neighbourhood safety—advocating for better street lighting around Queen's Park and improving local reporting mechanisms for hate crimes, which have sadly been on the rise. Second, I want to foster closer collaboration between the council, local community policing teams, and LGBTQ+ venues to ensure anti-social behaviour is addressed swiftly and effectively. We need to create an environment where everyone feels secure walking home at night, built on tangible neighbourhood improvements rather than just political posturing. ## Mark Strong – Green Party ![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/Untitled-design--9-.png) Image: supplied **What motivated you to put your name forward in this Queen's Park by-election?** I’ve lived in Queen's Park for 20 years, and before that 10 years in Hanover. I've brought up my two sons here. I work and shop here, volunteer with Friends of Queens Park and I’ve walked pretty much every street. I haven't just been campaigning for a few weeks during this election. For years I've been fighting for our buses, our healthcare, for safer streets, for our park, to stop bad developments and above all for our people. The impact of the climate crisis, the failure to listen to local residents, the need to take action on social issues – this is why I’m standing. But I’m also the descendant of Jewish migrants and refugees, and my mother fled with her family from the Nazis. That history has profoundly shaped my belief in a community where people are safe, treated with dignity, and difference is welcomed not feared. I want Queen’s Park to remain a community where everyone feels they belong, whatever their race, faith, gender or sexuality. **Brighton & Hove is home to one of the highest percentages of LGBTQ+ people nationwide. What political offers do you have for the LGBTQ+ community in Queen's Park?** The current climate is an attack like Section 28 all those years ago.It was hatemongering then and it is now. I will do all I can to help counter the attacks on LBGTQ+ people and support the right to be live in peace as part of a diverse community. The Green Party has always strongly supported the LGBTQ+ community in the city and we will continue to do so. **The increasingly polarised debate surrounding the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code of Practice and the rights of transgender people in the UK is causing real harm and anxiety within the transgender and non-binary community. What message would you like to give to trans people, and what steps would you take to champion the dignity and rights of trans people in your ward?** I’m proud that I share this city with so many trans and gender-non-conforming people - I’ll never turn my back on fighting for my LBGTQ+ friends, family & colleagues to not just exist in peace but thrive. I regularly join the Trans Pride march and I’ve spoken at public events meetings about the need to ensure the main Pride event is safe and inclusive. I may be a cis, straight man – but I hope my actions show I’m a firm ally for trans people and the wider LBGTQ+ community **If elected, what are your first steps and initiatives to enhance the safety of LGBTQ+ people locally?** I want to be a listening councillor. I have already been attending meetings where the future of Pride was discussed. I want to hear more from local LBTQ+ people about the specific issues in the Queen’s Park that matter to you. While I’m already aware of the broader safety issues, like lighting in Queen’s Park itself and feeling safe on buses, it’s important to hear from people with first hand experience. So the first thing I would do it set up a meeting to get that feedback. But the main thing will be to continue as an ally wherever and whenever I can. Publication does not imply endorsement. The views expressed are solely those of the candidates. [Learn more ](https://help.scenemag.co.uk/en/articles/6705346?ref=scenemag.co.uk)