Green surge Party calls for big role in decision-making after poll result
THE Green Party says it wants a “significant role” influencing major policy decisions in Bristol after a ‘Green surge’ at the polls.
Heather Mack, who was among a large crop of new Green councillors sworn in at City Hall on Monday, said a new power-sharing arrangement at the local authority was needed to reflect the results of last week’s local elections.
Voters chose 24 Labour councillors, 24 Green councillors, 14 Conservatives and eight Liberal Democrats, ending Labour’s dominance of Bristol City Council.
Cllr Mack, who represents Lockleaze with fellow Green newcomer David Willcox, said: “It’s clear that the people of Bristol have voted for a lot – an equal number – of Green councillors.
“That’s the representation they want. It is now up to the mayor to see how that power share works and how we get involved. We are going to wait and see, but we want to have a significant role.”
Labour mayor Marvin Rees, who beat the Green candidate Sandy Hore-Ruthven by more than 13,613 votes to be re-elected, must appoint a new cabinet by May 25, the date of the first full council meeting in the new municipal cycle.
Mr Rees has already reappointed four members of his previous Labour-only cabinet and is expected to announce more names later this week.
Cllr Mack said she thought the mayor should appoint at least two Green members to the ruling group.
Including Mr Rees, the cabinet will have 10 members altogether.
Tim Wye, also a newly elected Green councillor, said: “We do want to bring some balance to the council and we want to be able to challenge and persuade particularly on the climate issues.”
At full council, where Mr Rees has a vote, the Labour group now has 25 votes from 71, where just before the election it had 34.
Of the 24 Green councillors now in City Hall, 19 are newcomers.
Cllrs Mack and Wye were among a small group of them who gathered on College Green for a socially distanced celebration of the party’s win at the polls.
Also there were new Eastville councillor Lorraine Francis, new Cotham representative Mohamed Makawi, and the youngest member of council, 18-year-old Lily Fitzgibbon, newly elected to Bishopston & Ashley Down ward.
Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley, who joined them for the celebration, said the result in Bristol and across the country showed the
“future is definitely Green”.
“We have had our biggest result ever in these elections,” he said. “This is the biggest Green group of councillors that we’ve ever had, surpassing even Brighton and Hove. There is no corner of the UK where the Greens can’t win now, that is absolutely clear.
“We are ambitious to take our place as the country’s third party.”
Here we profile some of the new Green councillors:
Lorraine Francis - Eastville
Cllr Francis, who represents Eastville with Labour newcomer Marley Bennett, said she would like to unite the diverse community in Eastville and see it “on the map”.
“It’s kind of been tucked away,” she said. “No one’s really taken much notice of it.
“It’s a really diverse community in Eastville [but] there’s lots of fractures in the community there as well. It’s about bringing the whole community together, so that’s what I’m hoping to achieve.”
Mohamed Makawi - Cotham
Cllr Makawi, who represents Cotham with newly elected Green member Guy Poultney, said he was looking forward to serving the residents of Cotham, where he has lived for more than 20 years.
“It’s home. And I feel like it’s been neglected for a while,” he said.
Cllr Makawi said he will be fighting for Cotham’s parks, for improved public transport, for businesses, and to turn Chandos Road into a Liveable Neighbourhood.
Lily Fitzgibbon - Bishopston & Ashley Down
Despite being just 18, Cllr Fitzgibbon is no stranger to the workings of City Hall.
She dealt with the council to organise the Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate attended by Greta Thunberg in February 2020.
Asked what motivated her to stand as for council, Cllr Fitzgibbon said: “I think we see young people completely under-represented in local politics – the average age of a councillor is 60 – and in my work as an activist I’d had a lot of contact with the council and I was feeling like I wasn’t really achieving much.
“And I thought if I was a councillor myself maybe that would change.”
Cllr Fitzgibbon, who was elected alongside fellow Green newcomer Emma Edwards to represent the ward, said that she wanted to fight for the things that Bishopston needs.
“I think they need urban trees protecting, I think they need parking sorted out, I think they need green spaces improving, and I’m just so excited to get started on that.”
Tim Wye - Ashley
Cllr Wye said he was “absolutely” looking forward to becoming a councillor, especially as the Green group has become a significant force on the council.
“It’s a different job now, I think, because we’ve got so many people that we have a real say in what’s going to happen locally,” he said.
“There’s a lot to do in Ashley. It’s been an underlooked ward.
“And we need to get the same kind of investment and response we get in other areas and really speak up.
“And I’ll be working with both my local councillors – Amirah Cole [Labour] and Jude English [Green] – to do exactly that.”
Heather Mack - Lockleaze
Cllr Mack, who is the local Green Party organiser, said the party wanted to focus on prioritising “quick, feasible solutions for public transport”.
“Longer term projects are really exciting, but we really do need to improve our buses straight away,” she said.
“I would love something like [an underground] to work, but we do need improvements quicker than that would be.”
Cllr Mack said the Green party had ambitious policies on housing, including building more council homes and retrofitting existing ones, and would be pushing that agenda in council.
The Bristol Green Councillor Group are expected to vote for a new leader this week after the previous leader, former Bishopston & Ashley Down councillor Eleanor Combley, stepped down before the elections.
❝ It’s clear the people of Bristol have voted for a lot – an equal number – of Green councillors. That’s the representation they want. It is now up to the mayor to see how that power share works ... but we want to have a significant role
Cllr Heather Mack