Simon Heavisides frets and sighs on the doorstep of his flat in the Clifton Down area of Bristol. Like many in the new Bristol Central constituency, he is torn between the Labour and Green candidates. “I’m a lifetime Labour voter but I’m a bit disillusioned,” he explains to Green canvassers out doorknocking. “It’s really tough for me because I feel a loyalty to them.”
Heavisides, 57, is desperate for a change of government but he feels Keir Starmer’s moves to the centre ground have blurred the differences between the Conservatives and Labour. “I want the Tories out but as a Labour voter, you often feel like you are being required to vote Labour just because the alternative is horrific. Take immigration, I feel like Labour offers more of the same as the Tories but slightly more politely done.”
