Top five things to know about Brighton before Labour Conference 2013

  1. Brighton is home to Volks Railway. Opened in 1883, it is Britain’s oldest public railway. Brighton is also home to Britain’s oldest operating cinema, the Duke Picture House, which opened in 1910.
  2. The most recent byelection in Brighton returned a Labour councillor. Emma Daniel was selected at a byelection for Hanover and Elm Grove ward in July this year.  She won her seat by a close margin, after voters showed a huge swing away from the infighting local Green Party.
  3. Fracking is a hot topic in Brighton. Six Brighton-based activists were arrested in the fracking protests at nearby Balcombe this summer. Among those arrested at the protests was Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion. Labour activists joined the fracking protests, even though the main Labour party has tentatively supported fracking in the area. Even Brighton’s bishop expressed doubts about the plans for fracking in West Sussex.
  4. Brighton was home to GMB strikes this summer. CityClean workers, led by the GMB, went on a two week strike and rubbished the Green-led council’s threats to cut their pay.
  5. There is roughly one pub for every 320 residents in Brighton (obviously that figure changes when the city is swamped with Labourites). If you were to visit a different Brighton pub every day, it would take more than a year to drink in all of them. And no – don’t try and drink at all of them this weekend. It’s not a LabourList challenge…

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