The pay is terrible, you spend half your life in endless meetings, and there’s rarely a moment’s peace either on your local streets or online – who’d be a councillor in 2024?
Barry Parsons, one of two Green representatives for Easton, admits that “no one goes into it for the money”. But he also claims it’s the “best job I’ve ever had” – and not just because his party is now in the driving seat in Bristol’s City Hall, as the largest political group since the mayoral system here ended back in May.
So how’s all that going, our host Neil Maggs asks as he gets his teeth into a brand-new season of Bristol Unpacked, where we sit down with only the most interesting Bristolians to discuss anything and everything going on in the city – and beyond.
What’s behind Barry’s enthusiasm for his job? How does it feel for the Greens to be the largest group on Bristol City Council, and what’s led to the party’s rise to prominence here?
With Barry also being the chair of the council’s Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, we get firmly back into one of Bristol’s chewiest – and too often, bleakest – topics, housing.
How did it feel to come into that role to be told that the council was about to be judged as having ‘serious failings’ by a housing regulator? Do the Greens actually have any new ideas on fixing the housing crisis – and is there any sense of optimism that things can (only) get better under Keir Starmer’s Labour government?
And with the anniversary of the Barton House tower block evacuation having just passed, and many other council homes being in a shoddy state, what’s being done to make life better for tenants and residents – and to fix relations with community union ACORN, a frequent thorn in the side of former mayor Marvin Rees?
Settle in for a fascinating hour’s chat as we get deep into these issues – and explore how UK foreign secretary Barry Parsons would handle president-elect Donald Trump, should he suddenly be elevated to that office. It’s great to be back.
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