LABOUR’S Damien Egan has become the first MP to represent the new Bristol North East constituency.
Mr Egan won the seat in the general election with a majority of more than 11,000 over the Green Party’s Lorraine Francis.
He was already an MP, having won a by-election in the now-abolished Kingswood constituency in February.
Bristol North East, which includes Siston Hill, as well as Mangotsfield, covers part of Mr Egan’s previous constituency.
After the result was declared, he said: “Bristol North East has joined the rest of the country in voting for change at this election.
“Labour has improved Britain before. I know Labour can do that again.vI am so proud that I can play a small part and represent the community that I love and am from.vThank you to the people of Bristol North East for putting their faith in me.”
Ms Francis said she was “thrilled” to have taken second place in the election.
The Conservatives had held Kingswood from 2010 until this year and were second in Bristol East, which previously included the rest of what is now Bristol North East, in 2019. But on July 4 the party’s candidate Rose Hulse was third, 1,621 votes behind the Greens and only 798 votes ahead of the Reform UK candidate.
She said: “I am not going anywhere and I will continue to fight for change.”
The Tories already had no seats in Bristol but were pushed into third place by Labour and the Greens in all of the city’s constituencies except Bristol South, where they were fourth, behind Reform UK.
Mr Egan was selected for the Bristol North East seat by Labour members last year, but became an MP earlier than expected when Conservative Chris Skidmore resigned the Kingswood seat in January, sparking a by-election.
Former energy minister Mr Skidmore stepped down with a public attack on Rishi Sunak’s policy of issuing licences for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Before the election he declared he would vote Labour.
The former higher education minister was recently linked with the vacant role of head of the Office for Students but announced in July that he was launching a new private investment bank, Desmos Capital Partners, to support ‘net zero’ businesses.
Result:
Damien Egan (Labour) 19,004
Lorraine Francis (Green) 7,837
Rose Hulse (Conservative) 6,216
Anthony New (Reform UK) 5,418
Louise Harris (Liberal Democrats) 1,964
Asif Ali (Independent) 1,029
Dan Smart (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) 399
Tommy Trueman (Social Democratic Party) 122
Majority: 11,167
Turnout: 60.2%