A group of European diplomats appear to have given a ringing endorsement to the prospect of Bristol providing Britain’s second ever Green Party member of parliament, by heading out on a tour to ‘meet future MPs’, and including Bristol West’s Green candidate Carla Denyer.
The diplomats travelled out from their London embassies saying they wanted to understand perspectives outside of the ‘Westminster bubble’, and found themselves being shown around the Wellspring Settlement and Barton Hill and Lawrence Hill’s tower blocks by the Bristol city councillor and Green Party national co-leader.
Cllr Denyer (Green, Clifton Down) is confirmed as the Green Party candidate for Bristol West’s seat, currently held by Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire, who might raise an eyebrow at the description of her Green Party rival as a ‘future MP’ by diplomats from Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Poland and the EU itself.
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“We are in Bristol, five Europeans from European embassies in London, I’m from the German Embassy, and we are visiting MPs or future MPs in their constituency, to see what life is like outside the Westminster bubble,” said diplomat Clemens Kohnen.
The group of diplomats met Green Party councillors and heard presentations about the housing crisis in Bristol, before having a tour of Lawrence Hill.
“Their aim was to get out of the London/Westminster bubble and get a feel for the mood on the ground in Bristol,” said a Green Party spokesperson. “As a crucial political issue in Bristol, we chose to focus the visit on the topic of housing. We highlighted both the Government's failings on this issue, as well as the differences between the solutions put forward by Labour and the Greens,” she added.
Having a delegation of EU diplomats visit Cllr Denyer as a ‘future MP’ is a boost to her campaign to be Bristol’s first Green Party MP at the next election, which is expected to take place in 2024.
Cllr Denyer finished second to Labour in 2019, gaining 21 per cent of the vote to Ms Debbonaire’s 61 per cent, and despite being the Green Party’s top priority seat at the past couple of elections, it is still listed as the 32nd safest Labour seat in the country.
Ms Debbonaire was also busy on yesterday, issuing a statement in her position as shadow leader of the house at business questions, highlighting the government’s ‘failure’ to deliver 29 bills before parliament this year.
“Rishi Sunak has broken his promises to voters,” she told MPs. “Too busy playing whack-a-mole with the increasing pop-up rebellions from his own Tory backbenchers rather than using the government’s valuable time in Parliament to address the issues that matter to working people. This weak Prime Minister has been caught out overpromising and massively underdelivering.
“Just this week we’ve learnt of further delays to the Renters Reform Bill which was initially promised four years ago. The Tories have failed to introduce the Transport Bill, left the Mental Health Bill in limbo and abandoned the Schools Bill altogether. Even their flagship Levelling-up Bill is in chaos. This is no way to run a government.
“The next Labour government will introduce a coherent, bold programme of legislation driven by our five missions that’ll make a real difference to people’s lives,” she added.
The Labour MP was also scheduled to appear on BBC Question Time last night.
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