Politics Greens nominate council leader candidate
THE person who could effectively be in charge of Bristol City Council if the Green Party takes overall control of City Hall has been named.
Tony Dyer, who has been a councillor for Southville since 2021, is the party’s nominee for leader of the council, with Cllr Heather Mack (Green, Lockleaze) as deputy leader, after May’s election.
That’s assuming, of course, that they are re-elected in the May 2 vote, but with Bristol City Council switching to a committee system and scrapping the role of directlyelected Mayor, the councillors, their parties and the nominations will be the way the council is run after the election.
The council will have a series of eight policy committees made up of councillors, along with a leader and deputy leader of the council. Cllr Dyer is chair of the scrutiny committee at the council, and has previously stood for election to be South Bristol’s MP, and as the Green’s nomination for Mayor. Born and raised in Hartcliffe, Cllr Dyer was originally a bricklayer, before he got onto a government college course and a community work placement and retrained to work in IT.
He also co-founded the South Bristol History Festival, and has led calls for a permanent memorial to the miners who were killed in the Dean Lane pit disaster in Bedminster.
“I am proud of my working class, South Bristol heritage which has shaped my politics and my desire to see our city deliver for all its residents,” he said.
“Green policies recognise that social justice cannot be separated
I am proud of my working class, South Bristol heritage which has shaped my politics and my desire to see our city deliver for all its residents
from the challenges facing our climate and environment.
“While our manifesto lays out the policies we will seek to deliver for Bristol, I am under no illusion about the financial pressures facing all local authorities.”
The Green Party currently has 25 councillors, and need to win all those again and 11 more to take overall control of City Hall – otherwise there will be a ‘No Overall Control’ situation, and the parties will have to work together to form a coalition.
The Green group on the council will continue to be led by Cllr Emma Edwards.
Currently the 70 seats are divided as follows: Green (24) Labour (23) Conservative (14) Liberal Democrat (5) Knowle Community Party (2) Independent (2).
Cllr Tony Dyer