‘Hotwells & Harbourside needs a councillor with experience, dedication and respect’

Hotwells & Harbourside residents will be electing a new councillor in a special election on February 2.

The by-election is being held for a sad reason, the spiralling mental health difficulties of former councillor Alex Hartley. Being a councillor is a big responsibility and comes with many pressures.

It can take its toll on anyone’s mental well-being. Alex was brave to publicly acknowledge his problems when he resigned from office, enabling him to start the road to recovery. We are keeping in touch and he is taking a keen interest in who succeeds him as councillor for the most demanding ward in the city.

Hotwells & Harbourside ward covers the harbour and West End of the city, stretching from Brandon Hill and the top of Park Street, then from the cathedral through to the Cumberland Basin, taking in all the modern flats in Harbourside, and the distinct communities of Spike Island and Hotwells.

One councillor has to represent this urban ribbon of neighbourhoods, dealing with a myriad of issues including traffic and new housing developments.

It’s a growing community that needs adequate services such as school places and primary health care. It’s arguably the most complex councillor role in the city and it’s certainly not a role for a political novice.

The ward needs a councillor with the relevant experience, proven dedication and the respect of others to be able to influence events. It needs a councillor who understands the range of issues pressing upon the ward.

That’s why I am excited to be running once again as the Liberal Democrat candidate for an area I know like the back of my hand.

It’s almost 30 years since I was first elected to the council, representing the ward then called Cabot (after its most visible landmark on Brandon Hill), the southern part of which is now Hotwells & Harbourside.

The area has now elected Liberal councillors for 50 years, including former mayor George Ferguson and Bath MP Don Foster.

I was elected for three terms in the 1990s and later on, I served for ten years as the MP for Bristol West, which includes the ward. During that time I helped thousands of people with the issues that concerned them and have now spent three decades working and campaigning to make Bristol an even better city.

As the local councillor in the 1990s, I pioneered low traffic neighbourhoods. I helped start the long process of reducing the impact of motor traffic on the inner city.

I was the councillor who proposed the removal of through traffic from Queen Square. I also helped shape local development plans, overturning the council’s plan to turn Harbourside (then known as Canons’ Marsh) into a leisure and retail park and instead planning the balanced community of residents and amenities that we have today.

Both these matters remain today the main local issues facing Hotwells & Harbourside. We must make sure that our city centre communities are sustainable neighbourhoods for residents as well as attractive places for people from the rest of the city and beyond to visit for work and pleasure.

The area needs a councillor with the political clout to be an effective champion for local residents and the long experience to know how to get the best outcomes for the whole city.

The next 18 months will be a critical time as we transition from a city run by one mayor to a more collegiate way of making decisions by all-party committees of councillors.

My experience as a councillor, MP and local government minister will enable me to withstand the worst excesses of the mayoral system, such as the outrageous plans for the Cumberland Basin and the threat to close our Central Library.

I also want to use my experience to contribute to making the best of the new committee system from May 2024 onwards.

Bristol is an amazing city and Hotwells & Harbourside ward lies at the heart of it.

We all know Bristol could be even better, if only the council worked constructively with its citizens, drawing on their wisdom and delivering their aspirations.

I hope to play a part in the next stage of the city’s development, aiding the transition to a more equitable and sustainable future.

Stephen Williams is the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Hotwells & Harbourside by-election taking place on February 2. The other confirmed candidates are independent Martin Booth (also the Editor of Bristol24/7), the Green Party’s Patrick McAllister and the Labour Party’s Eileen Means. 

Main photo: Liberal Democrats

Read next:

• By-election could see Labour or Greens become largest party in Bristol
• Martin Booth: ‘Hotwells & Harbourside is my home and I want to make it better’
• The untold history of Pero’s Bridge

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