Green Party announce Bristol MP candidates ahead of next year’s General Election

Left to right: Jai, Lorraine, Carla, Naseem and Mary

The Green Party has announced all of the MP candidates which will be standing in the five constituencies in Bristol in the General Election. 

For Bristol South, the candidate is Jai Breitnauer, mum of two, small business owner, education equity campaigner and trustee of a local charity.

For Bristol East, the candidate is Naseem Talukdar. He is the founder of the ‘Feed The Homeless’ Charity and CEO of Projects Against Plastic, receiving awards for his campaigning including the National Diversity Award, the High Sheriff’s Award and the Lord Mayor’s Medal.

For Bristol North East, the candidate is Lorraine Francis, a social worker and a Green Party councillor in Eastville.

For Bristol North West, the candidate is Mary Page, an experienced campaigner who played a key role in making Bristol a more democratic city by leading the campaign for Bristol City Council to switch to the committee system, which will be taking place after the local elections in May.

Finally, the Green Party’s candidate for Bristol Central is Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.

With a Green Party candidate in every seat, everyone in Bristol will have the opportunity to vote Green. And in Bristol Central there is a very good chance of the city electing its first Green MP. Following boundary changes earlier this year, the new, smaller Bristol Central parliamentary constituency will comprise seven of the ten council wards which make up the current Bristol West constituency [1]. Green Party data show that this boundary change alone (not accounting for any changes in people’s votes) roughly halves Labour’s majority by no longer including the wards with Labour’s highest General Election vote, Easton and Lawrence Hill [2]. Bristol Central is already represented by 12 Green councillors and just two Labour councillors.

Bristol Central is one of the four target constituencies for the Green Party nationally, alongside Brighton Pavillion, North Herefordshire, and Waveney Valley on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. 

At the launch event which took place on Saturday 18 November, Carla said:

“Here, in Bristol, we are unique. We are the Green Party’s best chance anywhere in the country to get another Green MP in parliament.”

“Neither Tories nor Labour have a vision for the country, or a positive narrative of aspirational political change and a genuine hope for the future. The Greens are different. We are the party that sees that a better future is possible, and has the policies to get us there.”

Notes

1. https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/
2. https://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/bristol-constituency-boundary-changes-halve-labour-majority/