2017 General Election candidate profiles: Bristol West

As voters prepare to head to the polls on June 8 for the General Election, Bristol24/7 is keeping you up to date with perspectives from across the city.

In the first installment of candidate profiles from Bristol’s four constituencies, we shine a light on the candidates standing in Bristol West and what they have to say.

The swing seat of Bristol West is one of the most hotly contested constituencies in the 2017 General Election, with the Greens pinning their hopes on Molly Scott Cato’s bid to take the seat from Labour incumbent, Thangam Debbonaire.

The constituency stretches from Clifton in the west to Easton in the east, taking in the city centre north of the New Cut and stretching as far north as the Memorial Stadium.

Lib Dem Stephen Williams held the post of MP for a decade but faced a crushing defeat in 2015 when he came in third behind Labour and the Greens.

In alphabetical order, here are the 2017 candidates and what they have to say:

Thangam Debbonaire
Labour

Thangam Debbonaire was elected MP for Bristol West in 2015. She started out as a professional cellist, but went on to work for 25 years with local, national, and international organisations to end domestic violence.

“What I have tried to do as MP for Bristol west is reflect the values of people here,” she told Bristol24/7.

“The last thing I did before parliament was dissolved was launch a report from an inquiry I initiated in 2016 and shines a light of the way refugees and asylum seekers are treated in this country.

“I have also prioritised things like tackling climate change and exploring how renewables can be brought from the experimental stage to the commercially viable stage. This needs to happen very quickly, we have a huge amount of wave and tidal energy and we should be using it.”

Jodian Rodgers
Money Free Party Resources Shared Equitably (MFP)

Jodian Rodgers is a father of three who manages a charity shop for a pets and wildlife sanctuary.

He says that it is “now clear that the present political system cannot be fixed or amended, our democracy amounts to, every five years a choice of red or blue. That’s it.

“MFP wants a rewrite of the social construct. The monopoly-based political system is perfectly designed to benefit the few.”

If elected, Rodgers pledges to introduce a resource-based economy, challenge injustice, campaign for clean energy, work to eliminate homelessness and food banks with community-based sustainable projects and call for renters’ rights.

He will also support an NHS reinstatement act, tackle the education budget cuts and help make education and skills relevant to today’s challenges.

Molly Scott Cato
Greens

Molly Scott Cato is an economist and writer who has campaigned for green politics all her adult life. She is a professor of economics and is Green MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar, elected in May 2014.

“I think Brexit is an important issue,” Scott Cato told Bristol24/7. “People want to talk about it and they ask me if there is an opportunity to change our minds and I do think we should be given that opportunity. When we get the deal on the table, we should have the chance to have a look again.

“Also public services, you have to invest properly in the NHS. Each of the three main parties have contributed in some way to privatising it.

“As an MP, the biggest thing I have to offer is my knowledge of economics. There are not many people who understand economics and are critical. I want to carry on fighting for tax justice in Westminster and I really think that’s something I have to offer and something people in Bristol West really value.”

Annabel Tall
Conservatives

Did not respond.

Stephen Williams
Lib Dems

Stephen Williams was MP for Bristol West from 2005 to 2015. Prior to that he was a tax and business adviser and a local Lib Dem councillor. Standing as the Lib Dem candidate for the West of England metro mayor last month, Williams came third.

He says that his key issue is standing up to the Conservative government on their Brexit negotiations. “The next 18 months will be critical and it’s vital that the next House of Commons has a strong group of Liberal Democrat MPs, arguing for the softest possible Brexit.”

Other pledges include an extra £6bn for the NHS financed by a 1p rise in all rates of income tax, reversing school cuts and protecting the pupil premium money for children from poorer families, a big expansion in renewable energ, and a rational drugs policy with the legalisation and regulation of cannabis.

2017 prediction:
A narrow win for the Greens over Labour, with Bristol West hitting the national headlines as only the second constituency in the UK to elect a Green MP.

2015 results:
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour: 22,900
Darren Hall, Green: 17,227
Stephen Williams, Lib Dems: 12,103
Claire Hiscott: Conservative: 9,752
Paul Turner, UKIP: 1,940
Dawn Parry, Independents for Bristol: 204
Stewart Edward Weston, Left Unity: 92