Property tycoon helps fund Brighton and Hove Labour Party’s new offices

The millionaire property developer behind a failed £290 million redevelopment of the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove has given £10,000 to the local Labour Party.

Josh Arghiros, who lives in London, has given £10,000 towards the cost of the Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party offices in Church Road, Hove.

Mr Arghiros made the donation even though he is not a Labour supporter because of his longstanding admiration for Peter Kyle, the party’s parliamentary candidate in Hove.

His gift to the city party was reported by the Brighton and Hove Independent newspaper today (Friday 4 April) along with another £10,000 donation from Susan Ruddick, someone unknown to many senior Labour figures in the city.

The money is helping to fund the new offices at 99 Church Road which were advertised recently for a rent of £26,000 a year.

The offices are the headquarters for the citywide party which has left its old base in the nearby offices of the GMB trade union.

An artist’s illustration of the King Alfred scheme proposed by Josh Arghiros and property developer Karis

Coincidentally, Mike Holland, another millionaire property developer, disclosed today in the Brighton and Hove Independent that he also planned to back Labour.

Yesterday, in an exclusive interview, Mr Arghiros said: “I am doing it because of Peter Kyle. I really trust him. He is a good, good guy. If he had been a Conservative, I would still support him.”

He added that he had previously been “quite close” to Labour Party councillors but that he no longer envisaged developing projects in Brighton and Hove, adding: “Not until they get a grip and get some leadership. It’s not a city you can do business in.”

Labour’s support for Mr Arghiros’s ambitious King Alfred proposals have been cited as one of the reasons for the party losing the Brighton and Hove City Council elections in 2007.