Green Party chooses Climate Emergency campaigner Carla Denyer to win Bristol West parliamentary seat

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16 September 2019

Former wind turbine engineer and current city councillor, Carla Denyer, has been picked to contest the winnable seat of Bristol West for the Green Party at the coming General Election.

The Green Party is now the clear frontrunner in Bristol as the countdown continues to the next elections, after the party saw spectacular results in the 2019 EU election, receiving 35% of the vote across the city. This was 17,606 votes clear of the nearest contender and more than double the Labour vote – a fall in vote share which was widely attributed to Labour’s shifting and ambiguous national policy on Brexit [2].

Carla Denyer, who is credited as having started the national movement on Climate Emergencies in the UK by proposing the first one here in Bristol, has been a long-standing activist, and Bristol City Councillor since 2015. She said:

“We’re facing a joint crisis for our climate and for our democracy, but the Greens have the ideas and the political will to push for progressive solutions. I’m hopeful and proud to have been chosen to fight this election for the Green Party. We speak with one voice in saying ‘Yes to Europe and No to climate chaos.’”  

As well as her work on the Climate Emergency, Carla Denyer has a strong track record fighting council cuts and standing up for the vulnerable in Bristol. She worked with ACORN tenants’ union to stop cuts to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, resulting in a reluctant U-turn from the Labour Mayor, and proposed and won a budget amendment to save the city’s Local Crisis and Prevention Fund which helps prevent homelessness.  

Councillor Denyer said: “Bristol already has a strong group of Green councillors who have been holding this Labour-run authority to account. Our city needs people who get things done, and we need them representing us in Westminster. Caroline Lucas has demonstrated what a Green MP can achieve. She was the first MP to propose that Parliament declare a Climate Emergency [3], the first to call for a People’s Vote on the Brexit deal, and the first to bring forward an NHS Reinstatement Bill. She also fought against fracking, nuclear power and pollution, and championed clean, renewable energy. Our country needs more Green MPs and Bristol can make that happen.”

Former Green Party Bristol West candidate Molly Scott Cato was re-elected as a South West MEP in May 2019 with an hugely increased majority. Molly Scott Cato, now standing as the Green candidate for Stroud, said: “Carla will be an excellent MP for Bristol West and I look forward to supporting her campaign.”

The Green Party are the main contenders in Bristol West, which is historically a swing seat. It has been held by Labour and the Lib Dems within the last five years, and the Greens came a close second in 2015 [4].

The Green Party has chosen candidates for all four seats in Bristol in the event of a snap General Election. Tony Dyer (Bristol South), Conan Connolly (Bristol East) and Heather Mack (Bristol North West) are all also announcing their candidacies today.

ENDS

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