2017 General Election candidate profiles: Bristol East

In the space of just a few weeks, the UK’s three most powerful ministers of state have all visited Bristol East to campaign on behalf of Conservative Party candidate Theo Clarke.

Such is the ambition of the Tories to win this seat that Prime Minister Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Philip Hammond have all come to this constituency in the run-up to the General Election.

Bristol East is a tall and thin constituency which stretches from Fishponds in the north to Stockwood in the south, taking in areas including Eastville, Redfield, St George and Brislington.

Traditionally a Labour seat, Kerry McCarthy has held Bristol East since 2005, making her Bristol’s longest-serving MP.

Here are the 2017 General Election candidates in alphabetical order:

Theo Clarke
Conservatives

Theo Clarke is director of Conservative Friends of International Development and was the Conservative candidate for Bristol East in 2015.

“This election is our chance to deliver the strong and stable government that we need to see us through Brexit and beyond,” she told Bristol24/7. “Theresa May needs our support to enter Brexit negotiations with the best possible hand, to keep our economy strong and our country safe.

“The alternative is a chaotic coalition government, propped up by the SNP, leaving Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister to negotiate Brexit and risk our national security and economic progress.

“And your vote in Bristol East will decide who is Prime Minister. Our community is vital to Theresa May’s victory. To stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister, I need to win here in Bristol East as part of Theresa May’s team. Every vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s candidate here puts him one step closer to becoming Prime Minister.

“Some people say that Jeremy Corbyn can’t possibly become Prime Minister, but that’s just not true. The opinion polls got the General Election wrong in 2015, they got the EU Referendum wrong and as Jeremy Corbyn has said himself, he was a 200-1 outside chance of winning the Labour leadership.

“As Theresa May’s local Conservative candidate, I need your vote to provide that strong and stable government we need.

“As a proud member of Theresa May’s team, I will be a strong voice for our community in her government. If elected, I have a plan to work with her Government to secure investment for local transport infrastructure, I’ll bang the drum for Bristol businesses to keep our economy growing and create more jobs, and I’ll work to protect our local green spaces and greenbelt.”

Lorraine Francis
Greens

Lorraine Francis has worked in mental health and has previously stood for the Green Party in local and national elections.

“My key pledge is to work to give mental health provision the attention it deserves, particularly the mental health of young people, by recruiting extra mental health nurses and other staff, reversing pay cuts to do so,” she says.

“We will fund this, as we will fund other publicly funded measures, by closing the tax loopholes that enable the wealthiest in our society to avoid their share of responsibility for the services we desperately need.

“Green Party policies are made by the members of the Green Party, so I can do no better than to quote from the Party’s key pledges which are to create thousands of secure jobs by rebuilding public services, prioritise urgent measures to tackle climate change, hold a referendum on the Brexit deal, introduce an NHS Reinstatement Act to roll back privatisation.

“We will also reform schools and education, invest in opportunities for young people. Young people need a voice and we will give them one, by lowering the voting age to 16 and introducing political and active citizenship education for all young people.

“We will introduce a living rent for all through rent controls, cancel the replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system and return the railways to public ownership.”

Chris Lucas
Liberal Democrats

Did not respond

Kerry McCarthy
Labour

Before entering politics, Kerry McCarthy worked as a lawyer and on political campaigns.

“I think the biggest issue is how we can make Bristol a city that works for everyone and ensures no one is left behind,” she told Bristol24/7.

“We have this real problem, where Bristol keeps coming first in all these polls, but we have got to make sure that everybody can share in that.

“Bristol will only be a successful city when life chances are opened up to everyone and no one is left behind.

“Start with properly funded early years provision, stop the school cuts, make work experience available for everyone, bring back means tested allowances (EMA), scrap tuition fees and ban unpaid internships.

“There is a lack of diversity in certain sectors, such as the arts. It’s about those life chances and opening them up to everyone, being able to access types of things that some take for granted. Bristol will only be a successful city when that happens.

“I have done a lot of work on the environment and food waste and plastic pollution and we are launching a Feeding Bristol group soon. We are also looking at launching a mobile food bank because people who can’t afford food often can’t afford a bus either.”

2017 prediction:
A Labour win

2015 General Election results:
Kerry McCarthy, Labour: 18,148
Theo Clarke, Conservative: 14,168
James McMurray, UKIP: 7,152
Lorraine Francis, Green: 3,827
Abdul Malik, Lib Dems: 2,689
Matt Gordon, TUSC: 229