Council leader to discuss city issues on radio show

Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey will be in the BBC Radio Sussex hot seat on Thursday morning

Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey will be grilled about issues affecting the city as part of BBC Radio Sussex's hotseat series.

Ms Sankey is set to be questioned about topics including bin collections and fire safety in city flats and will have the opportunity to respond to concerns from listeners in a wide-ranging interview on Thursday.

Ms Sankey will be on BBC Radio Sussex with presenter Danny Pike from 09:00-10:00 BST.

Jess Love, executive producer of BBC Radio Sussex, said: "The hotseat is a fantastic opportunity to connect our listeners directly with local decision-makers and allow them to ask questions that matter to them and their community."

Elected as a Labour councillor for Wish Ward in December 2022, Ms Sankey became council leader after her party won a majority in the 2023 local elections, ousting the then Green-led minority administration.

Since then the council has overseen a culture review at Brighton and Hove's CityClean service as well as dealing with the administration and subsequent sale of the Brighton i360.

The interview is the latest in a series of interviews questioning the bosses of some of Sussex's biggest organisations including Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne and chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority Siôn McGeever.

Listeners will also have the opportunity to ask their own questions.

You can listen to BBC Radio Sussex live here.