Voters will go to the polls in Bristol on Thursday May 2 to elect new councilors and decide which party will lead the city council. The Labor Party has been in power since 2016, but the Greens believe they could take control of Bristol this year and lead the next administration. Housing was a central part of the Greens’ campaign launch for the upcoming local elections at the Engineers House Conference Center in Clifton last week.
If the Greens took power after May’s election, more affordable housing would be built in Bristol, the party promised as it kicked off its local election campaign. Bristol City Council would also persuade developers to build the thousands of homes for which they have planning permission but have not yet started building.
“Councils have a vital role to play, but they need a framework that supports them to deliver the homes people desperately need. We must unlock the policies that will make hundreds of thousands more social housing units available – for good. We also need a fair deal for the millions of people who rent in the private sector,” said co-leader Carla Denyer, who is running as an MP in Bristol Central.
Councilor Carla Denyer explained that “This country is facing a serious housing crisis. There are more than a million households on city council waiting lists. In England, the average price of a house for sale is now more than eight times the average annual household income. We desperately need a massive increase in the supply of affordable social housing. I regularly hear about people who live in unacceptable conditions, who are crying out for safe housing or who are struggling to make ends meet because their rents are skyrocketing.”
The Greens currently have 25 councilors in Bristol, while Labor has 23.
Denyer has decided to step down from her role as a local election councilor to focus on her campaign to become MP for Bristol Central in this upcoming general election, expected in the autumn of this year.
Last year’s local elections saw the Greens make significant progress, gaining 241 councilors and taking majority control of a council for the first time – Mid-Suffolk.
There are far fewer seats up for grabs this year, making similar gains harder to achieve, but the party still hopes it can increase its 760 councilors in England, including in Bristol where the Greens are already the largest party.
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