VOTERS in the Emersons Green area will be among millions around the country electing a new government on July 4.
Three parliamentary seats are being contested in the area covered by the Voice – and residents of Emersons Green and Lyde Green will have a new MP on July 5, whoever wins.
Both areas are becoming part of the Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency, which is expanding eastwards from Downend as part of boundary changes introduced at the general election.
Previously all of Emersons Green, and most of Lyde Green, was part of the Kingswood constituency, which has been abolished. The other parts of Lyde Green were in neighbouring Thornbury & Yate.
The Siston Hill estate was also in the Kingswood constituency before the boundary change, but is now part of a new seat. Bristol North East has been created by combining four South Gloucestershire wards from the old Kingswood constituency – New Cheltenham, Staple Hill & Mangotsfield, Kingswood and Woodstock – with four Bristol wards that have been moved out of neighbouring Bristol East.
Pucklechurch and Shortwood are still part of the Thornbury & Yate constituency, and are joined by Siston village, which had previously been part of Kingswood.
The Voice has contacted the candidates standing in the three constituencies, and all of them have sent statements to tell readers something about themselves and their priorities if they are elected.
They appear on our pages in the same order they will be found on the ballot paper.
In Filton & Bradley Stoke, Conservative Jack Lopresti, who has held the seat since it was created in 2010, is defending a majority of 5,646 from the 2019 election. Labour has been second in all four previous contests.
In Bristol North East Labour’s candidate is Damien Egan, who became Kingswood’s MP in a by-election in February, after Tory Chris Skidmore unexpectedly resigned.
Kingswood was Conservative from 2010 until this year’s by-election, which Mr Egan won by 2,501 votes; Bristol East has been held by Labour since 1992.
In Thornbury & Yate, Conservative Luke Hall is defending a majority of 12,369 from the 2019 general election.
He won the seat from the Liberal Democrats in 2015, and Lib Dem candidate Claire Young, the current leader of South Gloucestershire Council, was second in 2017 and 2019.
As the Voice went to print, two opinion polls had been published predicting the results in the three seats.
Both YouGov and Survation were predicting wins for Labour in Filton & Bradley Stoke and Bristol North East, and a Lib Dem win in Thornbury & Yate.
Voting will take place from 7am until 10pm on July 4, with the votes being counted immediately afterwards and results expected to be declared early on July 5.
The deadlines for registering to vote and applying for a postal vote have already passed.
This will be the first general election where voters are required to present photo ID at polling stations.
Voters can use passports, driving licences, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards, blue badges, Defence Identity Cards and some concessionary travel cards as proof: the full list of ID that will be accepted can be found online at tinyurl.com/t3yspjdz.
Election candidates Filton & Bradley Stoke
Benet Allen (Liberal Democrats)
I’M campaigning for our community on both a local and national stage for action to tackle the housing crisis, cost of living crisis, the NHS crisis and the ongoing sewage scandal.
I’m a former local councillor and deputy leader of the successful Somerset West and Taunton council and remain a dedicated community campaigner. During my tenure, the council began work on the first council houses to be planned and built in west Somerset for more than 30 years.
For years our area has been taken for granted by an out-of-touch Conservative Government that has failed to get the basics right and lurched from crisis to crisis – now it’s time for a change.
We need to see a return to politics that not only works for the country, but for our local communities.
Local health services have been brought to their knees, people’s mortgages and rent have skyrocketed and water companies have been allowed to pump their filthy sewage into our rivers and beaches.
All this by a Conservative government more interested in fighting between themselves than standing up for the country.
People are at breaking point and the simple fact is that we need change at the very top.
This government is the first in almost a century to make the average person poorer. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a fair deal. It’s a vote for a party and a candidate that will stand up for our community and our health services.
Stephen Burge (Reform UK)
My name is Stephen Burge. I have lived in and around Filton and Bradley Stoke most of my life, my father worked for Rolls-Royce, my children grew up and still live here, my friends live here, and I care about this community.
I’m an ordinary person, someone just like you, and I’m standing because I feel this constituency has been let down.
Issues like the Hambrook Lights which cause traffic chaos, the link road bridge to Winterbourne, the asylum seekers in the local hotels, the talk of 30,000 new houses on the Woodlands Golf Course; how would the infrastructure cope that’s already jammed at peak times?
I want to be your voice.
That’s the reason I’m standing: we have been let down locally.
Of course we also need to look at the national issues, but locally is what is important to you, this is what impacts your lives.
Enough is enough, this is why I have decided to stand, to try and make a difference for this community.
Vote Reform UK.
Claire Hazelgrove (Labour)
I LIVE in Stoke Gifford and am from a family of teachers, NHS workers and RAF service members – their sense of public service runs deep in me.
I’ve worked in leadership roles for trusted national charities and in politics on big issues, including the housing and environmental crises. I knock on doors all year round and share your concerns.
We live in great communities but our potential is being held back.
As your strong voice in parliament, I’ll act to:
*Reduce the cost of living. Getting energy bills down with a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants. Keeping bills down by switching on Great British Energy.
*Get our public services back on their feet. More doctors, dentists, teachers and police where needed most, and service reform. Funded by closing tax loopholes and exemptions.
*Build good and affordable homes, with infrastructure. Support local people to stay, while protecting the character of our growing communities.
*Public transport that works. Speed up bus franchising and give communities the opportunity to take back control of local bus services.
*Action on climate and good, local green jobs. Protect nature for future generations and back the skills we need, in aerospace and beyond.
This will take time, but I’ll work every day to deliver for you, serving as a visible, impactful and approachable MP you can be proud of.
Labour’s always been the strong second here. I hope I can earn your trust in the most important election in a generation.
Jack Lopresti (Conservative)
IT’S been an honour to represent you as your Member of Parliament for the last 14 years.
Over that time, we have achieved so much together for our area, but there’s still more to do.
Our country is at a crossroads. We have all faced very difficult years: a global pandemic – the first in over a century, and the first full-scale invasion on the continent of Europe in 70 years. We have had to make difficult decisions to steer our country through these dark times.
Locally, I have been working hard to improve connectivity in Downend and surrounding areas like Frenchay and Emersons Green. I presented a petition to Parliament restore Hambrook Junction so traffic can cross the junction in both directions.
I’ll continue to push to reinstate bus services which have been cut by Labour’s West of England Mayor Dan Norris who, despite receiving £105 million to improve buses, prefers to waste money on gimmicks like a birthday bus pass, and adverts of himself and his dog.
When it comes to public services like health and education, I secured £49.9 million for Southmead Hospital and I’m working to improve access to local GP surgeries.
As for education, 93% of South Gloucestershire schools are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. Moreover, having already delivered a new school in Winterbourne, we must look to build another in Emersons Green.
We’ve turned a corner – we have a plan. We seek the opportunity, honour and privilege to continue to serve the British people.
James Nelson (Green)
WE need to see a step change in how we fund our public services. As someone not far out of school and as the brother of a soon-to-be children’s nurse, I have seen the devastation of austerity on our public services.
As a Green MP, I would fight to ensure those with the broadest shoulders paid for public services that are fit for the future.
We need to protect our waters, air and land. I have grown up appreciating our local nature and seeing the failure of the government to address the climate crisis.
As a Green MP, I would fight for sewage-polluting water companies to come under public ownership and for real ambition from the government to provide a green future for the next generation.
We need to deal with the cost of living with more than a sticking plaster.
I have met with many people feeling the squeeze while some large companies post record profits.
As a Green MP, I would fight for the tax on income from shares in companies to be raised to equal what you pay on your salaries from work, so that we can pay for a fairer, greener society for all.
I have lived in this area since I was two years old, I have seen promises made and then broken.
I believe in real hope and change for our communities. That’s why I’m asking you to vote for me on July 4th.
Read more about the Green Party in our manifesto: greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto
Election candidates Bristol North East
Asif Ali (Independent)
My name is Asif Ali. I am a born and bred Bristolian.
Morality has become absent in our politics. We, the electorate, have become the sacrificial lambs our political leaders present at the altar of the mega rich. We need a reset button on how this constituency is represented in Westminster.
I live locally and my education from primary school to graduation all took place in Bristol. Now I work as a courier in this constituency.
There is a wise saying that states:
“Take advantage of 5 before 5,
Youth before old age
Health before sickness
Wealth before poverty
Free time before busyness
Life before death.”
Central to embodying these beautiful words is building a caring community and that is my goal.
With funding to local services cut back to the bone, adult social care completely dysfunctional and isolation of the most vulnerable in society, our current political system needs uprooting and needs resetting.
My priorities are to revive funding to the voluntary and community sector and create pop-up GP surgeries in community centres and primary schools during holiday periods to deal with increased demand. The quicker people are healthy, the quicker they can become contributing members of society.
The cost of living crisis and the rise in homelessness has been artificially manufactured to benefit the rich. Innovative housing solutions can certainly be pursued to bring about short, medium and long term solutions to the undignified mess left by a conservative government and labour council.
Vote Independent. Vote Asif Ali.
Damien Egan (Labour)
I’M standing to be your Labour MP for Bristol North East, I’m from Kingwood and live locally.
In February, I had the honour of being elected as the MP for Kingswood, and I’ve been working hard to represent people in Parliament and solve your issues.
After 14 years of the Conservatives, for the first time in our history, we have a government that has left people worse off.
But Labour has a fully costed and funded plan for the country.
Labour will:
*Deliver economic stability so we can keep taxes, inflation, and mortgages as low as possible. Under Labour, there will be no increases in income tax, national insurance, or VAT.
*Cut NHS waiting times by offering more evening and weekend appointments, make it easier for you to see your GP and offer 700,000 more emergency dental appointments.
*Launch Great British Energy which will produce renewable energy and new jobs across the country helping to lower your energy bills.
*Set up a Border Security Command that will speed up asylum applications, target criminal gangs and save money by ending the use of asylum hotels.
*Tackle crime with 13,000 new neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs with tough new penalties for offenders and tackle shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.
According to ‘Tactical.Vote’ there was just 1% separating Labour and the Conservatives here in 2019. A vote for anyone else will risk five more years of chaos with the Tories.
If you want to see change, vote Labour on Thursday 4 July.
Lorraine Francis (Green)
I AM standing as your Green Candidate in the new Bristol North East constituency.
I was re-elected in May to Bristol City Council as councillor for the Eastville ward, which forms part of the new constituency.
I have been affiliated to the Green Party since 2010, eventually standing as a parliamentary candidate in Bristol East in the 2015 and 2017 general elections. In February I stood as the Green candidate in the Kingswood by-election.
My love of this part of Bristol and South Gloucestershire has led me to stand again. I want to ensure that people who look like me, as well as people who relate to my politics, continue to have hope for a better and equitable political system.
I also see myself as an advocate for Health and Social care and want to see Social Care reform, including better funding. This is an issue I know well from my work as a social worker.
I am an activist and supportive of other activists wanting to keep our NHS as a public and accessible service and I am passionate about equality and fairness.
If you want an MP who cares about Bristol and South Gloucestershire, the UK, climate change and making the world a safer place, it is time to vote Green.
Green politics is progressive and sound.
Read more about the Green Party in our manifesto:
greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto
Louise Harris (Liberal Democrats)
LOUISE grew up in the constituency, attending Chester Park primary and Rodway (now Mangotsfield) secondary schools. She was born in an RAF hospital in Germany and many people know her father, popular local musician Chris Harris.
After school Louise went to Kingston University in London, where she studied European Politics and Economics and started her political career as Chair of the Liberal Club.
She has worked in the voluntary sector for over 30 years, supporting vulnerable people, and currently manages a charity in Wiltshire providing advocacy for people with mental health issues and learning disabilities.
Louise is a South Gloucestershire councillor and Cabinet member for the Climate and Natural Emergency. In opposition she worked to get cross-party backing to declare a climate and nature emergency in 2019. Fighting to protect our environment is an issue Louise is passionate about and is proud of her record on this, going back to campaigning on acid rain as a student in the 1980s. Louise loves the natural environment locally and says Eastville Park was her childhood playground, so she is very keen to continue her campaigning on the climate and nature emergency as the local MP for Bristol North East.
If elected Louise will stand up for all local people in our community, focusing on improving local healthcare and housing provision, fighting for social justice and protecting our environment.
Away from politics, Louise enjoys reading, music, theatre, travelling and spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.
Rose Hulse (Conservative)
I’M so excited to be your Parliamentary Candidate for the upcoming general election for Bristol North East.
A thing to know about me is that I am not a politician, I’m a business woman and my core values are simple…transparency, integrity, and honesty.
I will not make false promises to win your vote, but I can be honest with you … and here is what I can do:
- I promise to always let you know the full circumstances of the situation and what I am able to do to help and the choices available to us.
2. I will sit down with the key community groups post election and discuss the pressing matters, prioritise them with the community and work on a strategy to fight for those changes at Westminster.
3. I will look for opportunities to bring new jobs, enterprise and investment to our constituency.
4. I will work with our national banks to push for more small business loans and grants to ensure that our high streets are growing and servicing our community to the highest level.
5. I will make sure that our ageing population is well looked after, as well as those in the care industry.
6. I will make sure that new builds offer a percentage of homes within the price range based on the average salaries in our constituency.
Take a leap of faith with me on the 4th of July.
Rose Hulse for Bristol North East, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate.
www.rosehulse.com
Anthony New (Reform UK)
I’M a retired Electrical Engineer, with a long career in British industrial companies.
I was born in North-East Bristol and live here now.
I’m standing for parliament not because I want a second home in London paid by someone else, but because I’m appalled at our non-functioning political system that has become remote and disconnected from ordinary people, run by an elite managerial class with their own agenda, who disrespect our own needs and cares.
I can list lots of things wrong with Broken Britain and so can you, but immigration is the big one because it causes so many other problems. Britain has always welcomed people from other lands, races, and cultures and has benefitted from that over the centuries.
But over one million immigrants arrived here last year and another million and more will come this year. Where will they live? The government hasn’t built enough new houses for them (rented housing is disappearing fast) or hired enough new doctors or dentists.
Where will they get health care – and where will you?
It cannot go on. Annual immigration must be cut down from a million to a few thousand and only Reform UK do this, because all the other parties want it to continue.
Taxation and energy prices are far too high already and will get higher under Labour. Net Zero madness is ruining Britain. You know reform is needed – vote for it. Vote Reform UK.
Dan Smart (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
AS an experienced trade unionist, I’m standing for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition because workers urgently need our own political voice. The Tories have presided over the cost of living crisis, lack of decent housing and the selling of our NHS. We can’t take any more, but what’s the alternative?
A Labour Party that has expelled socialists and abandoned all of its principles. That has refused to increase vital funding for public services and to bring them back in-house. That have done all they can to appeal to the interests of greedy big businesses.
Other parties also represent more of the same. This includes the Greens, who have voted for cuts in Bristol rather than used their position on councils to fight austerity.
TUSC would properly fund our NHS and pay nurses and doctors fairly to end the staffing crisis. We would immediately renationalise energy, rail, water and other key industries.
We oppose the brutal devastation of Gaza.
Moreover, as an MP I would take a workers’ wage to ensure I stay committed to representing the interests of Bristol North East not the interests of the privileged in Westminster.
In my trade union work I have shown that I am committed to those principles and would be a fighting to voice for all those forced to go to food banks, struggling to access healthcare, get a roof over their head or suffering from the impact of war.
That’s why I’m standing for TUSC – for a genuine working-class, socialist alternative.
Tommy Trueman (Social Democratic Party)
DO you feel as a country we’ve been governed poorly by both Tories and Labour? You’re not alone! The Social Democratic Party offers the electorate an alternative to this failed duopoly. We’re a working-class, traditionalist party – and we represent you, the forgotten majority.
The past 40 years of neoliberal economics has delivered us an economy with flatlined growth and productivity. We’ve become indifferent to our country’s growing inequality and decline.
One of the clearest signs of this is the Housing Crisis, which both parties have been equally complicit in creating. We simply don’t have enough social and private housing stock for our growing population. As a result, high mortgages and rents harshly burden ordinary hard-working families.
As a communitarian party, we will not stand for this. The SDP would undertake large-scale government-led housebuilding, as well as bringing an end to mass migration, back down to 50,000 people per year.
This is just one example of where the SDP will advocate for a confident state that intervenes to get our country back on the right track.
Another sign of decline is the increased sense of disunity and antisocial behaviour. We desperately need to revive our sense of togetherness and patriotism. But there are those in other parties who continually push divisive identity politics.
The SDP believes in supporting a virtue-led cultural renewal, which builds stronger families, stable communities and ultimately a happier society.
We’re standing 122 candidates at this election, so vote for us and join us: www.sdp.org.uk.
Election candidates Thornbury & Yate
Andy Banwell (Reform UK)
MY name is Andy Banwell, and I am honoured to stand as the Reform UK candidate for Thornbury and Yate. With a career spanning various roles including bus driver, lorry driver, and IT engineer, I’ve gained a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by everyday working people.
As a long-serving parish councillor for Dyrham and Hinton Parish Council, I’ve been committed to serving our local community, working tirelessly to address issues that matter to residents. My dedication to public service is rooted in my belief that effective representation starts with listening to the needs and concerns of the community.
If elected, my priorities will focus on strengthening our local economy, enhancing public services, and ensuring a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren. I am passionate about supporting local businesses, improving transportation infrastructure, and ensuring access to high-quality healthcare and education.
I also believe in the importance of preserving our beautiful countryside and promoting sustainable development that respects our environment. As a family man with two grown-up daughters and three grandchildren, I am committed to building a future that provides opportunities and security for all generations.
I am determined to bring a fresh, common-sense approach to politics, advocating for policies that are practical, fair, and focused on improving the quality of life for everyone in Thornbury and Yate. I look forward to the opportunity to represent you and work together to make our community an even better place to live.
Thank you for your support.
Luke Hall (Conservative)
I HAVE lived in South Gloucestershire all my life. I grew up here, I am raising my own family here, and I want to make sure we keep delivering for our community.
We’ve got a lot done in the last few years, but I know there is more to do. Together, we managed to defeat the unsustainable proposals to build thousands of houses at Chipping Sodbury and Buckover, but now we need to fight the plans to overdevelop our towns and villages, and make sure Bristol takes a fair share of housing, too.
We are opening a new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities school, and now we need to refurbish rural schools and ensure we have strong mental health support in local schools.
We’ve made progress on transport, introducing half hourly train services, opening the park and ride, and scrapping the Severn Bridge Tolls. Now we need to go further, by reopening Charfield Station and securing better bus services.
We supported businesses through Covid, but now we need to open ‘Banking Hubs’ and defeat the Council’s plans to introduce car parking charges.
We are tackling crime. There are over 500 extra police officers in Avon and Somerset, but I am fighting to see more of them on the beat in South Gloucestershire.
On Health, we have secured the money to rebuild Thornbury Health Centre, and expanded services at Yate MIU. Now I want to see more services delivered at Frenchay, and crucially, get the rebuild of Thornbury Health Centre done.
Alexandra Jenner-Fust (Green)
WE’VE just had the hottest month since records began, and climate change is the biggest challenge facing humankind – but to read the news you’d sometimes be hard pressed to know there was a problem. I feel let down by the main political parties and their failure to address this issue, which is the main reason I’m standing for the Green Party in this election.
The Greens are passionate about protecting more than just our environment. We are focussed on delivering a fairer deal for everyone in society. We want to restore the health of the NHS, ensure affordable, quality housing is built in the right places and to enable everyone to have a decent quality of life.
I’ve grown up near Thornbury and raised my family here. I work in a local school and also as a gardener, and I volunteer with Homestart, helping families with young children. This gives me a wealth of experience of some of the challenges we all face. I’m already working hard in public service and as a volunteer to help others, and I’m ready to take this further as your member of Parliament.
We are so lucky to live in a beautiful part of the country, where we have a great opportunity to make things even better. I’m ready to serve the people of Thornbury and Yate and help your voice get heard where it matters. For real hope and real change, vote Green.
Read more about the Green Party in our manifesto: greenparty.org.uk/about/our-manifesto
Rob Logan (Labour)
THE country is looking for change – to move forward after fourteen years of division, low growth, high prices, high taxes and poor public services.
To take just one example, people are waiting too long for NHS treatment, while the current government is content to blame doctors and nurses for delays, rather than providing the support that the healthcare system needs and which the British public have a right to expect.
Labour is offering a positive choice – a choice of economic competence, shorter NHS waiting times, green energy, investment in schools and better policing. This is the change that the country needs.
Thornbury and Yate is a fantastic community, and somewhere personally important to me. My wife’s side of the family is based just outside Thornbury, and this is why we moved to the West of England when our first daughter was born, 17 years ago. We’d never leave now.
Thornbury & Yate needs a parliamentary champion who will contribute to this positive vision, and who will stand up for the local area. Yate and Thornbury can be vibrant, bustling town centres that are simple to travel to and full of life, but sadly previous politicians have not stood up for the things that matter to the local area, while our town centres have fallen behind. Re-opening Thornbury High Street as a popular destination has to be the first step.
We can change this. Labour can change this.
I hope you choose Labour.
Claire Young (Liberal Democrats)
WHATEVER your political views I think we can all agree something has to change.
We can’t carry on with an NHS that can’t treat people in A&E for 24 hours or offer doctors’ appointments for weeks.
We can’t leave family carers to cope with a care system that doesn’t work for them.
We can’t keep dumping sewage into our rivers and we can’t afford high food and energy bills.
I’ve lived in this community for 25 years, and I have fought against the impact of government policy on our local towns and villages.
I am standing to be your MP because, alongside other Lib Dem MPs, I want to take that fight to Parliament.
For example, the Liberal Democrats have costed plans to invest in 8,000 more GPs and to fine the water companies for sewage discharges.
I’ve been a councillor here for 17 years and am now Council Leader. I’ve introduced measures to tackle the changing climate and fought to protect our beautiful countryside. I’ve helped businesses get support and been there for residents when times have been tough. I’ve helped many of you over the years. I know I can make an even bigger difference as your MP.
The national polls show Labour in the lead. Here in this seat the situation is different. Labour have never won this seat, and it’s a close race between myself and the Conservatives. So if you think it’s time for a fresh start, please support me on July 4.