Working together for a fairer, more equal, democratic and sustainable Sussex
Join Us at Or Next Coffee With Politics Morning
16 November - 10.00-12.30
Conerstone Community Centre
Booking essential
After the Riots - Causes, Impact and Solutions 
Neal Lawson: Director of Compass
& second speaker to TBC
Few of us will forget those few weeks, just after the historic election of a new Labour Government, when, seeming out of the blue the country witnessed a wave of shocking and violent riots directly aimed at harming and intimidating asylum seekers, Muslims and others.
The organised far right was, is a very literal way, fanning the flames of racism, violence and hate.
But just as quickly we witnessed wonderful moment of hope as overwhelming numbers of ordinary people turned out onto our streets to oppose these fascists and racists. Not least in Brighton and Hove.
Join us to discuss Neal important new report, 'After the Riots' from a national and local perspective
more information here
The Blue Wall Toppled!
Yes after fourteen long years the tory government is gone and so has many Conservative held seats in the south east and Sussex.
Brighton and Hove Compass is proud of the role we played in the victory, along with our friends in Lewes and Horsham we campaigned hard for Labour, LibDem and Green candiates who support PR.
So a huge thank you to our friends and supporters who helped in the campaign.
A month has passed and we can start to take stock of the extraordinary changes that have taken place in Sussex. The political landscape has been upended and the chequerboard of colours that make up our two counties has transformed dramatically in ways inconceivable only five years ago.
We Compass wouldn’t want to claim all the credit for this but we believe that our 'Win as One' campaign and the long running efforts of the three Compass groups in Sussex, with their numerous members and affiliated supporters, had a significant impact in the marginal seats.
Compass groups canvassed in most of the key constituencies, running events and street stalls, promoting tactical voting and leafleting on behalf of the endorsed candidates (the Lewes groups’ activities even caught the attention of the national press). Campaigners also set up a Vote Heart/Vote Smart operation using an online tool to let voters swap their ‘heart’ vote with someone in a seat where the vote would make the most impact, say Green voters in West Worthing swapping with Labour voters in Brighton Pavilion.
On the day, the Conservative Party lost nine seats across the 17 constituencies of East and West Sussex. The map which was once almost entirely blue is now a patchwork of orange and red with that familiar green patch in the middle, the Green Party having held what until then had been its only seat, in Brighton Pavilion. These are undoubtedly historic changes.
All this, and a cautionary tip-toe around what the future might hold, is described in a recent Sussex Bylines article here.
About Brighton and Hove Compass
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Nationally and locally, Compass campaigns for the good society, one that is more equal, democratic, and sustainable. We believe that no single organisation or political party can create the good society. And that the main progressive parties have far more in common than differences. So, we need to develop new and radical collaborations to achieve a good society.
Brighton and Hove is an amazing creative and progressive place with a vibrant artistic, community and voluntary sector. A city with an great track record of campaigning that remains as alive as ever with Pride, Black Lives Matter and others. And we are fortunate to have a council with a progressive majority. But our city is also a place where wealth and extreme poverty, poor housing, low paid and seasonal work, and homelessness sit side by side so, when we re-launched our local Compass group in 2020, our priority was to support Brighton build back better after the pandemic. However, our local collaboration can only achieve so much without changing Britain’s centralised, short term and tribal political system. We believe that there are three key elements getting in the way:
- Our unfair electoral system
- Our tribal politics
- Our over centralised national and local political systems.
We are:
- Campaigning to Win as One by reaching out to other progressives across Sussex to develop and network of local Compass groups and alliances. We will focus particularly in those constituencies where the majority of voters are progressive but, because of the first-past-the-post voting system, they fail to return a progressive MP.
- Exploring ideas, discussing issues and planning strategies. We do this at our bi-monthly coffee mornings and other events in Brighton and Hove.
Brighton and Hove Compass is coordinated by a volunteer steering group of five.
Join Compass here https://action.compassonline.org.uk/. And email us locally at brightonhove@compassonline.org.uk
Promoted by and for Compass Campaigns Ltd., 10 Salamanca Place, London, SE1 7HB