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Caroline Lucas gets hero’s welcome in Bristol
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas arrived to a hero’s welcome when she headed to Bristol on Thursday night to take part in Question Time, which was broadcast live on BBC One from the Arnolfini.
A group of fans waited outside brandishing signs in support of Green’s ongoing stop the badger cull campaign. Lucas veered over to the group to say a brief hello, before she was ushered back towards the entrance and disappeared inside.
Lucas prolonged her Bristol stay until Friday morning to open Bristol West candidate Darren Hall’s new campaign office and shop on the Gloucester Road, which replaces their previous office on the harbourside.
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After cutting the ribbon, both Hall and Lucas gave short speeches. The main weight was on Bristol’s status as European Green Capital, which could be the vehicle to help win the Green Party the Bristol West vote, one of their top national targets alongside Lucas retaining her own seat in Brighton.
“There’s a sense of energy in Bristol, there’s a sense of opportunity of real change,” Hall said to a polite round of applause.
“Our policies are popular policies,” Lucas added, referring to the recent results of blind voting site www.voteforpolicies.org.uk where users vote for policies without knowing which party they are connected to.
“On policies, the Green Party wins hands down, time and time again.”
Lucas refused to answer any local questions while she was in Bishopston, and much of the visit was consigned to signing copies of her new book, Honourable Friends? Parliament and the Fight for Change.
Green Party volunteer Jesse Meadows (below) said: “This year, I felt very passionate about getting Darren elected, so I’ve been very involved in the campaign.
“The shop is the most exciting thing to have happened in the campaign. Our old office was very inaccessible, it was on the harbourside on the sixth floor, very invisible, and then we got the opportunity to move here. This is the complete hub of the Bristol Green Party campaign now.”
The new Bristol Green Party shop will remain open until the General Election on May 7 at 127 Gloucester Road.