Can Darren Hall break new ground like Caroline Lucas did in Brighton?
Can Darren Hall break new ground like Caroline Lucas did in Brighton?
At the recent local elections in May, the Green Party in Bristol got a nice surprise. They came first in the Bristol West constituency going by the popular vote across the council wards, with a lead of 2 per cent over Labour.
Yesterday they announced as their candidate for Bristol West, Darren Hall, the man who won Bristol its European Green Capital Award 2015 and who runs the city’s Big Green Week festival.
To get the seat, he’ll have to take on incumbent Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams MP, and Labour’s Thangham Debonnaire, who is also standing.
According to the Green Party, “the contest is likely to be a closely fought three-way marginal, based on recent local election results showing the Greens are currently in the lead with 28 per cent support across the constituency, followed closely by Labour with 26 per cent, and 24 per cent going to the Lib Dems.”
Greens have six councillors across the city after making gains in May.
Hall, who now edits Good Bristol magazine, said:
“Bristol has always been a community that wants to stand on its own two feet. Only a Green MP can truly deliver a leadership that doesn’t conform to old party lines, that is democratic, that doesn’t let people down, that listens. As an MP, I would stand up for the people and interests of Bristol at all costs, rather than having to toe any party line.”
“Greens have been working alongside Bristol’s creatives and green experts for over 20 years to mould a vision for a more sustainable future for our city, but without an advocate in Westminster we are unable to make the vital changes we need. I’m excited to be starting out on this campaign to help us engage with innovative solutions on how to make Bristol work.”
Can he break new ground like Caroline Lucas did in Brighton? It will be an interesting race to watch next year, that’s for sure.
51 Responses to “Could this be the next Green MP?”
Gordon Ingram
This is the first thread I’ve looked at on here for ages! I’ll gladly pick a fight with the frackers after I write my blog post on fracking next month 😀
Gordon Ingram
I don’t give a damn whether I’m a Leftist or not. What matters to me is that I’m trying to do something about the shit that we’re in.
When it comes to renewables vs nuclear, you are whistling in the wind. The cost of the former will gradually come down as the technology becomes more efficient. The cumulative costs of the latter, in contrast, will rise as more and more waste needs to be managed. Yes there’s the Lovelockian argument for nuclear rather than gas in the medium term to put an immediate halt to global warming and tide us over to a renewable future, but I don’t buy it. New reactors take decades to commission, by which time advances in solar energy (given proper levels of public and private investment) might well have turned them into white elephants.
Chris Millman
No party will encapsulate absolutely every view you hold. Find the best fit you can and get on board.
Leon Wolfeson
No, a rightist is very unlikely to care. You do care about piling it deeper, I agree – onto the poor, on the basis that one day renewables might be the answer. You are depending on things we don’t have for salvation – in other words, on a religious proposition. I don’t go for that, for very very good reasons.
Never mind there are plenty of known solutions for the tens of cubic meters of waste a plant generates…as you buy more fossil fuel usage, just like Germany, and push scare stories when we could be 48 months from new reactors tomorrow with political will.
The reality of Germany, and that it’s going to burn dirty coal, is not something your faith can answer is it?
Norfolk29
The Green Party also need to tell us how we are going to power the energy needs of the future. No amount of re-branding is going to get over the total opposition to all the attempts to provide for this important requirement of all modern societies. They oppose fracking, nuclear and anything that might interfere with the beautiful countryside. Time they woke up and didn’t put on the electric kettle or the coffee machine themselves.