The Cable view: Bristol’s role in national politics is about to be turned on its head
The Bristol Cable was founded in the austerity years of the Coalition government. We must have written hundreds of articles about cuts to local services and how that deepens inequality – bashing the Tory government from afar, with Westminster feeling quite a long way away.
But now, Bristol’s role in our national politics is on the brink of a major shift.
The first general election in the Cable’s history in 2015 saw three Labour MPs and one Tory, and subsequent elections the whole city has been red.
We’ve written about the Conservative MPs just outside Bristol, from Jack Lopresti going on multiple trips paid for by dictatorships, such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and accepting donations from a private jet mogul on the eve of the 2019 election. We also revealed that bad boy of Brexit Arron Banks lied to parliament about the political work that his insurance company did for his controversial Leave campaign.
During the 14 years of Tory rule, Bristol Labour MPs have obviously been in opposition. The Cable has often interviewed them when holding the government to account, scrutinising potential reforms, or reporting on issues faced by their constituents. They’ve even taken our reporting to parliament.
In 2019, we covered the snap election in depth, speaking to voters, exploring the big issues, reporting on dodgy Lib Dem bar charts and the dark money being funnelled into local campaigning. But ultimately not much changed. The Labour MPs held onto their seats but remained in opposition, and Labour failed to unseat the Tory MPs on Bristol’s outskirts.
But now in 2024, it seems like we’re approaching a moment of real change. Keir Starmer is likely to become prime minister and bring Labour back to power after 14 years in the wilderness.
Regardless of whether you believe if Starmer actually brings a genuine alternative or any hope at all, the role of Bristol in our national politics is going to be turned on its head. In a month’s time, Bristol’s current four MPs could well be taking up roles in a newly formed government, for the first time holding real power that must be held to account.
Thangam Debbonaire is the Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, Darren Jones – who is currently being wheeled out to talk about how Labour won’t raise taxes and won’t increase spending much either – is the effective number 2 to the Shadow Chancellor. Kerry McCarthy is Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Karin Smyth is Shadow Minister for Health. Although these are more junior roles, they will still play important roles in tackling two of the biggest issues we face: the climate crisis and sorting out the mess the NHS has been left in.
Bristol may also become only the second place in the country to elect a Green MP, as Carla Denyer is campaigning hard to unseat Debonnaire in the new seat of Bristol Central. If elected, Denyer may even be the lone Green voice in parliament and end up playing a similar role to what Caroline Lucas had done since 2010.
As Bristol’s place in our national politics evolves, so must the Cable’s role. We will have to hold our local Labour MPs to account more directly if they are part of the next government.
Over the next five weeks, our team of reporters will be getting out onto the streets to cover the key battleground constituencies, digging into dubious donations and dodgy campaign tactics, and speaking to key organisations in the city about the big issues of the election. We’ll also have a special focus on Bristol Central, where Labour and the Greens will be battling it out.
But then, after the dust settles, we will hold our local MPs’ feet to the fire. It remains unclear whether Starmer’s Labour will actually tackle the major issues we face, from inequality and to creaking public services, to meaningful action on climate change. Regardless, our journalists will continue to dig into these structural issues through their reporting and call it out if the new government doesn’t bring about real change.
Read our bumper explainer and listen to our podcast to kick off our coverage of the 2024 general election. You can read all our coverage here.
