Labour councillor Bruno de Oliveira defects to Green Party in Brighton & Hove

Councillor Bruno de Oliveira, who represents Hollingdean & Fiveways, has today joined the Brighton & Hove Green Party, becoming the party’s 10th sitting councillor on Brighton & Hove City Council.

Councillor de Oliveira was elected as a Labour councillor in May 2023 and served as chair of the council’s Health & Wellbeing Board until resigning from the Labour Party over its cuts to the international aid budget. He now joins the Green Group with just over a year to go until the 2027 local elections.

Green representatives say the defection reflects wider public frustration after three years of Labour administration on the council and two years of a Labour government nationally, arguing that voters are seeking a clear alternative.

Commenting on his decision, Councillor de Oliveira said: “I joined the Green Party because I refuse a politics that tells us we live on an island of strangers. The current system enriches a few while millions struggle, then blames the most vulnerable in society to distract from rising inequality.

“Greens offer a hopeful alternative: a society built on peace, housing and affordability. The notion of neutrality can be misleading and naïve. It is time for a change; it is time for economic justice. The idea that we have to deal with the world as it is, not as we wish it were, aims to prevent us from building a fairer society.

“Imagine someone telling Martin Luther King Jr to put his civil rights dreams away. A revolution starts with a dream of the world we want to live in, not just the world as it is, and I, like many others, have a dream of a fairer society.”

Steve Davis, Green Leader of the Opposition on Brighton & Hove City Council, welcomed the move. He said: “It is an absolute pleasure to have a councillor of the calibre of Bruno de Oliveira join our growing number of Green councillors. He brings not only a wealth of experience but a genuine passion for the city.

“As we are seeing across the country, people aren’t leaving Labour – Labour are leaving people. This is another clear indication that the Greens are the party of real hope and real change.

“At full council next week we will welcome Bruno to the chamber, and we hope this is the first of many new Green councillors who will help represent the city and bring forward shared ideas and ambition.”