Yesterday the Groan published a piece on people in the new Bristol Central constituency abandoning the Labour party for the Greens. Their journalist talked to a number of people who had done so, beginning with an Asian woman, who was particularly disgusted by Starmer’s treatment of Gaza and women of colour, such as Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen. Other people were also upset at Starmer’s attitude and policies towards Gaza, as well as Labour’s abandonment of the £28 bn pledge for the Green New Deal, as well as the party’s general shift to the right.
The article begins:
‘Anger over Starmer’s stance on Gaza and perceived shift to the right could lead to the Greens’ Carla Denyer being elected in Bristol Central
Early June in the bohemian enclave of Montpelier in Bristol, the sun warms the tightly packed terrace houses, delis and cafes. Flashes of Labour red that may once have adorned the windows in previous general elections are notably absent. In their place are badges of green, displayed with pride.
Enjoying the sun outside the Bristolian cafe on Picton Street is Norhan Nabeeh, 34, a secondary teacher of psychology and religious studies who has always previously voted Labour. She won’t be doing so this year.
“It’s primarily Keir Starmer’s leadership,” she says, listing the reasons she has turned her back on Labour.
“Their views and actions on Gaza and Palestine. The way they’re treating black and brown women – like Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen – I’m not going to vote for a party that treats women, particularly women of colour, that way.
“Bristol Central is a constituency that cares most about immigration and welcoming immigration. People feel betrayed by Labour.”
Montpelier sits within the newly formed constituency of Bristol Central, where the Green party is more confident than ever of gaining its second MP in co-leader Carla Denyer. She hopes to take the seat from Labour’s incumbent MP – and culture secretary hopeful – Thangam Debbonaire.
Debbonaire says she is not frustrated. “I’m the first woman of colour, to my knowledge, ever to represent any seat in the south-west … [Green] supporters say they want a change in government – it’s only going to be a Labour government – but their party is choosing to target a Labour MP not a Tory MP, to campaign against the Labour party – that’s their choice. That’s democracy. Personally frustrating? It’s not about me.”
The Greens’ confidence comes partly from some choice maths. Firstly, the constituency boundary has been redrawn, with Debbonaire’s current patch of Bristol West to be scrapped. The Greens believe some measures show this alone will halve Debbonaire’s sizeable majority from about 28,000 to about 15,000.
Then, a little over a month ago, the local elections gave the Greens a huge boost. Every single council ward within the Bristol Central parliamentary constituency elected a Green councillor. The party gained 10 seats across the city, mostly from Labour, bringing its total to 34. The Bristol city council leader is now a Green, Tony Dyer.
But why Bristol and why now? In Montpelier, voters rarely raise environmental or climate issues among their primary concerns although many do touch upon them, occasionally mentioning Labour’s U-turn on its £28bn green investment pledge. It is rather the differing positions between Labour and the Green party on the conflict in Israel and Gaza that is cited, as well as Labour’s perceived shift to the right under Starmer.
Up the road from the Bristolian, Thomas Chadwick, 52, who runs the Radford Mill Farm Shop, is planning to vote Green. “When Labour turned against Palestine, that was big for a lot of people. I used to work for Thangam Debbonaire. For her not to support people in Palestine – she is happy to repeat the party line over any ethical choice. Labour just feel like Tory-lites.”
The Greens have called for a “full bilateral ceasefire” and the suspension of arms exports to Israel, while Labour backs a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and has called for the publication of government legal advice on arms exports. Starmer’s approach is viewed broadly as mirroring the Tories.
…..
The shift from Labour to the Greens is evident among the party’s volunteers out in force knocking on doors in Hotwells and up the hill into the affluent streets of Clifton and its grand Georgian crescents.
Among them are Rebecca Bentley-Price, 25, a classics master’s student who lives in Clifton Downs. She used to be a Labour supporter but has been volunteering for the Greens since January. “It was mainly the shift to the right I saw in Labour,” she says, clutching a clipboard, preparing to knock on another door. “The Green party was completely aligned with how I feel about how we should be treating people.”’
For further information, see: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/07/people-feel-betrayed-by-labour-bristols-green-surge-continues
I was particularly interested in this article as it reflects my own attitude towards Starmer’s Labour party. He has abandoned it’s Green pledges, along with the traditional Labour welfare policies and hopes for the renationalisation of the utilities and the health service. And he, and the Blairite party bureaucracy, have been steadily turning Labour into Tories MK2 for decades.
Carla Denyer, as the article says, is one half of the Green’s join leadership. She”s clearly a very intelligent, having studied mechanical engineering at university and worked in Green technology. She may well become the party’s second Westminster MP, as the Greens have overtaken Labour as the largest group on the city council. And I think she could be a breath of fresh air. Very many MP seems to have started their political careers studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at university but haven’t had a job outside of this, while others, like Tony Blair, are lawyers. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re bad MPs, but I do think it produces a certain uniformity in their thinking, and an inability to reason outside the bubble of what the elite class consider politically acceptable ideas. Such as someone actually demanding bringing back nationalisation and the welfare state and challenging neoliberalism, despite the popularity of these ideas and the number of books published advocating them.
Denyer, with her background in science and technology, could bring a fresh, much needed new perspective to British politics.
Tags: Asians, Blacks, Bristol, Carla Denyer, Ceasefire, Clfiton, Conservatives, Constituency Changes, Faiza Shaheen, Gaza, Green Party, Keir Starmer, Labour Party, Lawyers, Mechanical Engineering, Neoliberalism, NHS, Politics Philosophy and Economics, Public Utilities, Thangam Debonnaire, The Guardian, Women
Beastrabban\'s Weblog 
Leave a comment