Green Mark Strong Wins Queen's Park By-Election and Takes Seat From Labour With 50.1% of the Vote
Mark Strong, newly elected Green councillor for Queen's Park (Photo: Brighton & Hove Green Party)
Green candidate Mark Strong won the Queen’s Park by-election on Thursday 24 September 2026 with 1,139 votes, 50.1% of the 2,272 votes cast for candidates, beating Labour’s Steve Gladwin on 802 votes by 337. The result, declared on Friday 25 September, takes a seat from Labour, lifts the Green group to 12 of the council’s 54 councillors and leaves Labour on 31. Turnout was 33.36%.
The by-election was called after Councillor Milla Gauge resigned on 5 August, a vacancy the council confirmed in a notice dated Tuesday 11 August 2026. Five candidates stood. Below is the full result, the history of the seat, who Strong is, what the win does to the council chamber, and what is coming next, because the council itself is about to be redrawn.
The result in full
Bars are scaled to the winner. Votes and turnout from the council’s declaration of result, 25 September 2026. Vote shares calculated by ImJustBrighton from votes cast for candidates.
In all, 2,281 ballot papers were issued, as recorded by Democracy Club, which compiles results from councils. Nine ballot papers were rejected: seven were unmarked or void for uncertainty, one voted for more than one candidate and one carried a writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.
Three by-elections in one ward
Queen’s Park elects two councillors, and this was the third time since the full council elections of May 2023 that voters have been called back to the polls to fill one of the seats. Five people have now represented the ward in that time.
Winners and runners-up in each Queen’s Park by-election. Figures from the council’s declarations of result for 2 May 2024, 18 September 2025 and 24 September 2026.
The Green vote held almost exactly where it was a year ago, rising from 1,133 to 1,139, while Labour recovered 73 votes and Reform UK lost 77. Adrian Hart, who polled 64 votes as an independent in 2025, did not stand this time, so there was one candidate fewer on the ballot.
Changes in percentage points. Shares calculated by ImJustBrighton from the council’s results for the 2025 and 2026 Queen’s Park by-elections.
Why the seat became vacant
In her resignation statement on 5 August, Councillor Milla Gauge said she had been repeatedly told by colleagues that she must not pursue concerns raised with her about council and school policies relating to children questioning their gender. She also said she had been told not to communicate with officers on licensing measures to protect women and girls that were not confined to her ward. The council’s own notice of vacancy gives no reason and records only her resignation.
Council leader Bella Sankey responded that Gauge’s resignation breached the promise she made to residents and the Labour Party in 2024, that the council has no role in commissioning gender-related healthcare, and that she had advised Gauge to take the issue to the council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Sankey also said Gauge had been unable to point to a specific safeguarding concern resulting from the council’s trans inclusive approach. Both statements are published in full at the links, and we have not edited their meaning.
Who said what
We found no published post-result statement from Labour, Reform UK, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats at the time of writing. We will add any response we receive.
Who is Mark Strong
Brighton & Hove Green Party selected Strong as its candidate on 15 August, describing him in its announcement as an active travel consultant with a long record of local action. The party says he has held the council to account as a scrutiny committee co-optee and as a member of its Transport Partnership, and that until July 2026 he served for many years as the elected Transport and Public Realm Representative for Brighton & Hove Community Works.
Strong is no newcomer to the ballot in Queen’s Park. At the May 2023 council elections he stood in the ward as Mark Simon Strong and finished fourth of seven candidates with 682 votes, 11% of the vote, according to the council’s own election results for Queen’s Park. This time he took 1,139. The Greens also say he has recently campaigned alongside Councillor Marina Lademacher and local residents for a safer crossing of Freshfield Road, where they say the council has now started to design a crossing.
“Residents deserve better than a revolving door of Labour representatives.”Mark Strong, Green Party candidate, on his selection
Councillor Steve Davis, Green Group Convenor and Leader of the Opposition, called Strong “a community champion in every sense of the term” when he was selected. After the result, Brighton & Hove Green Party announced Strong on Instagram as giving the ward “two hard-working Greens” who will stand up for the community.
What it does to the council chamber
Brighton & Hove City Council has 54 councillors across 23 wards, and the by-election moves the balance by one seat from Labour to the Greens. Labour needs 28 seats for a majority and holds 31, so it still outnumbers every other group combined by eight, but it began this council term with 38.
Each dot is one councillor. September 2026 balance after the by-election, against the 54 seats won at the May 2023 elections. See the council’s councillors page for the current list.
The Greens count this as the eighth by-election since the 2023 elections. Their own announcements chart how the group has grown:
What happens next: a council about to be redrawn
The next set of council elections will not work like a normal contest. The government has confirmed that Brighton & Hove’s boundaries will expand to take in East Saltdean, Telscombe and Peacehaven, and the council’s own announcement sets out the timetable: a Structural Changes Order creating the new council to be laid in Parliament in autumn 2026, elections to a shadow council for the new footprint in May 2027, and vesting day on 1 April 2028, when the new authority formally takes over.
The council says it is anticipated that currently serving Brighton & Hove City Council and Lewes District Council members will have their terms extended until 1 April 2028, with the chance to stand for the shadow council in May 2027. That is the context for a by-election like this one: the seat Strong now holds is part of the chamber that is expected to run the city until the new authority begins.
The Greens have strongly criticised the extension. In a statement in July, the party called it undemocratic that the existing Labour administration could continue for a further year without a fresh mandate. Council leader Bella Sankey has described the boundary decision as an important one for residents, and has acknowledged that some will remain sceptical about local government reorganisation.
How the by-election worked and who could vote
Polls were open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 24 September and ballot papers were counted on Friday 25 September. Open each panel below for the detail.
Key dates and deadlines
Tuesday 8 September: last day to register to vote
Wednesday 9 September, 5pm: last day for the council to receive postal vote applications, and last day to cancel a postal vote
Wednesday 9 September, 5pm: last day to receive proxy applications if the voter or their proxy already has a postal vote in place
Friday 11 September: postal votes dispatched
Wednesday 16 September, 5pm: last day to receive any other proxy vote applications and Voter Authority Certificate applications
Friday 18 September: first day to reissue replacement postal votes
Thursday 24 September: polls open from 7am to 10pm
Friday 25 September: ballot papers counted
Who could vote
To vote you had to be registered by 8 September 2026, aged 18 or over on polling day, and either a resident of Queen’s Park ward or a registered Crown servant or service elector for an address in the ward.
Under the Electoral Commission’s guidance, British, Irish and qualifying Commonwealth citizens can vote in all elections. Citizens of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain living in the UK can vote in local elections, as can citizens of other EU countries who were legally resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020 and have stayed continuously.
Students registered at both a home and a term-time address can vote at both in council elections, as long as the addresses are in different council areas.
Photo ID at the polling station
Voters in England have to show accepted photo ID at the polling station before they are given a ballot paper at local elections, the Electoral Commission says.
Accepted forms include a passport, a driving licence, an older person’s or disabled person’s bus pass and a free Voter Authority Certificate, which people can apply for through their local council. Expired ID can be used as long as the voter is still recognisable from the photo.
Anyone who arrives without an accepted form of ID cannot vote. A private area is available if a voter wants their ID checked in private.
How to register for the next election
The Electoral Commission says all you need to register is five minutes and your National Insurance number. You must be registered to vote in any UK election.
There are other options if you are a service voter, want to register anonymously or have no fixed address.
Your questions answered
Who won the Queen’s Park by-election?
Mark Strong of the Green Party won with 1,139 votes, 50.1% of the votes cast for candidates. Labour’s Steve Gladwin was second on 802 votes, 337 behind.
What was the turnout?
The council recorded a turnout of 33.36%. In 2025 it was 33.28% and in May 2024 it was 38.94%.
Why was there a by-election?
Councillor Milla Gauge resigned on 5 August 2026, saying in her statement that she had been prevented from pursuing concerns about council and school policies on children questioning their gender. The council issued its notice of vacancy on 11 August 2026. Council leader Bella Sankey disputed her account.
Who else stood?
Steve Gladwin (Labour), John Shepherd (Reform UK), Stefan Sönke Speckesser (Conservative and Unionist Party) and Rudi Dikty-Daudiyan (Liberal Democrats).
How many councillors does each party have now?
Labour 31, Green 12, Conservative 5, Independent 4 and Brighton & Hove Independents 2, out of 54.
When is the next council election?
Elections to the shadow council for the expanded Brighton & Hove are planned for May 2027, with the new authority taking over on 1 April 2028, according to the council.
Five people have held a Queen’s Park seat since May 2023, and the two sitting now are both Greens.