A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the last time we had local Green Party councillor Tony Dyer as a guest on Unpacked. Back then, in November 2020, Donald Trump had just been defeated in the US presidential election, and we were, of course, in the grip of the pandemic.
Here in Bristol, Covid meant the vote for our mayor had been suspended until the following spring. Labour’s Marvin Rees would go on to run the city for several more years – before the the voting public opted to get rid of the role of the mayor entirely and, in May 2024, to install the Greens as the biggest party.
That election saw Tony, a self-deprecating south Bristolian, take the helm at the council under a new committee system, a position he’s now held for a year. So it seemed an ideal time to ask him back for a chat with Neil.
How’s that all been going then? The Greens were vocal in opposition in Bristol, but how are they handling the reality of power and being held accountable, as the new establishment, for the decisions being taken? Have they kept their promises? And how does Tony, less of a frontman figure than Rees or his mayoral predecessor George Ferguson – a Noel rather than a Liam, as Maggs puts it – feel about being the public face of the city?
Beyond Bristol of course, the political climate has also shifted since Tony and Neil last sat down to chat. Labour may be in power nationally, but Reform are making inroads everywhere – including here, where Arron Banks was only narrowly beaten into second place at the recent WECA elections.
Could Nigel Farage’s party soon be targeting south Bristol as a potential parliamentary seat? Nationally, do the Greens still have momentum as a political alternative? And with climate politics increasingly being used as a wedge issue by populist parties, how can Greens and progressives shape a message that reaches across class and race boundaries?
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