Brighton and Hove Greens pour cold water on Labour’s euro claims

The Greens have poured cold water on claims by Brighton and Hove Labour Party after it topped the poll locally in the European election vote.

Labour said that the ballot showed that they will win control of the council next year and all three parliamentary seats in Brighton and Hove.

They made the claim after attracting 20,414 votes – more than double the 9,113 at the European elections in 2009.

The Greens’ vote slipped but only slightly – from 19,727 to 18,586.

Adam McGibbon, the Green Party’s campaign manager for general election target constituencies, said: “The claim by Labour that last night’s neck-and-neck results between Labour and the Greens somehow ‘confirm’ that everything in the city will ‘return to Labour’ in the 2015 elections is completely bogus Labour Party spin.

“The results told us nothing about Labour wins in any individual constituency and the overall difference between Labour and the Greens across the city was little more than negligible.

“Far more revealing is that fact that in the BBC’s ComRes poll, conducted in the city last October, just after the refuse dispute, Labour was claimed to be at 38 per cent and it has now slid all the way down to just 26.8 per cent while Greens have climbed from 21 per cent in October to 24.5 per cent last night.

“Labour was quick to crow about the poll back then.

“It is very quiet now on the fact that in just seven months the Labour lead has collapsed from 17 per cent to a tiny 2.4 per cent.”