By John Wimpris, Local Democracy Reporter: Nine people are hoping to win your vote in the General Election on July 4 to become Bath’s next MP.
Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse has been the city’s MP since 2017 and is hoping to be re-elected on her record. But the Conservative Party, Green Party, Labour Party, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, and George Galloway’s Workers Party have all fielded candidates in the city with the hopes of winning it off her — as well as three independents from the city.
The city is an ancient constituency which has been sending MPs to Westminster since 1295. New election boundaries mean that much of the countryside around the north and east of the city — including the villages of Bathampton, Batheaston, and Bathford — will now be a part of the constituency.
Since political parties developed in the United Kingdom, the constituency has only ever elected Liberal Democrats or Conservatives and their predecessors — except for one Radical MP in the mid-17th century. But now there are several candidates hoping to break trhough.
Here are the nine candidates in their own words:
A.N.ON, Independent
If people continue to elect anti-socialist candidates, the most notorious ones conflicted by their promises to a) the community spirits of their constituents, and b) the corporate interests of their parties, they will merely be changing the speed at which they travel to hell in a basket.
And even were they to elect a socialist representative, the balloon might change direction, but it would still be an aristocrat in charge, not a democrat.
Counter-intuitive as it may seem, selecting someone at random to be the MP for Bath [this method is called sortition, and has been used in Athens, Venice and Florence in past centuries… while they were flourishing] and collectively determining the terms and conditions of their appointment beforehand at a People’s Assembly [such as ones used in the Republic of Ireland in recent years: to resolve issues party politicians feared to touch] is a saner, safer and sweeter way to conduct our political affairs.
As in 2010, I have put myself forward as an avatar for an alternative, pro-actively exploratory method of political engagement. I am not asking you to vote for me. I am offering you a Positive Negation* to deploy at the ballot box.
* (Where does deliberately spoiling a ballot paper get us? All but one of us could do so on 4.7.24 and ‘first past the post’ would let somebody win with a single vote. There has to be potential within the resistance. There has to be hope within the despair.)
Hopefully there will be a critical mass of 500 (ie. 499 other) people willing pay a £1 each to offer this public service in future, so I needn’t pay for the whole round each time.
But the analysis is correct. There are books published about the virtues of Sortition [I recommend ‘Against Elections’ as a starting point] and a couple of countries already offer official ‘No’ votes in elections. (Although a state-sponsored ‘No’ does not offer the potential to instigate a sortition model instead. It is actually there to tranquillise the electorate.)
Don’t say there’s nothing you can do when I’m giving you the chance to prove otherwise. Don’t shoot the messenger if you’re too busy fetching your gun to read their manifesto [at heirstrikes.org].
Matthew Alford, Workers Party
Would you vote for an end to genocide in Gaza? Do you oppose Sunak/ Starmer/ Trump/ Biden sleepwalking us into a Third World War?
But there isn’t a politician in Bath that agrees with you, is there?
Well, there is now!
Are you also passionate about:
Investment in housing and infrastructure?
A 5% wealth tax for the super-rich?
Free school meals?
NHS renationalisation?
A climate policy inclusive of working people?
How about cheap, reliable, and available buses? Our families able to swim in clean water?
I supported Jeremy Corbyn as someone who strives for decency in public life. But he had limits as a leader.
Our leader George Galloway terrifies a discredited establishment in the House of Commons with his sharp mind and plain speaking.
I am a lecturer at the University of Bath, specialising in the relationship between conflict and the media. I know how urgently we must overhaul a reckless foreign policy and usher in a sane new world.
The Prime Minister says Britain has entered its “most dangerous” era. Elite consensus holds that we will – even should – be in a direct war with Russia and/or China and/or Iran and/or North Korea in the next Parliamentary period. How would anyone actually survive that?
We are not pacifists but we despise what our government has already done in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Yemen. We want the very best for our Armed Forces but have no trust in our leaders to make good choices. And we know that when the government shouts “crisis”, it’s easy for weak or inexperienced MPs to fall in with the rabid tabloids. Bath’s Liberal Democrat candidate Wera Hobhouse has very little experience in foreign policy.
Our city is a very safe Lib Dem seat. On July 4th we are voting for who can hold Wera Hobhouse to account. So feel confident voting with your conscience to push this constituency – and country – to treat the wider world responsibly.
I entered politics two weeks ago. This election just became an opportunity to shout like a lion and not vote like a lemming. Take it.
Dan Bewley, Labour
The Local Democracy Reporting Service could not get in contact with the Labour candidate. However his campaign website states:
“Bath is a brilliant city with a great sense of community. People look out for each other here. But, like everywhere else in the UK, Bath has suffered under 14 years of chaotic Conservative government.
“Our beloved RUH is facing the biggest challenges of its lifetime; air quality needs improving; local schools are desperately under-resourced; nursery spaces and dentist appointments are increasingly hard to get; highstreets have vacant units where independent businesses are struggling; and the cost-of-living crisis means people are increasingly concerned about their and their family’s future.
“I became politically active after the Conservatives won a majority in the 2015 general election. I and many around me were bearing the brunt of cuts, and I could see people’s living standards and opportunities diminishing year-on-year, particularly for the younger generation. I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines, so I started campaigning with the Labour Party. Now I want to represent Bath so I can stick up for interests of the residents here.”
Colin Blackburn, Independent
I’m currently an elected member of Bath & North East Somerset Council. I have represented my ward of Westmoreland for over 9 years….as an Independent.
Why Independent…well I think we have all been witnessing the outcomes of tribal party politics, short-termism and a constant appeal for ‘likes’ above getting the job done. I represent people not a party colour.
Why am I standing to be your next Member of Parliament? Many people across the city have contacted me and have expressed a feeling of political homelessness and no longer believing that a tick for a party promising X, Y & Z, will actually achieve anything for them, their families and our community. We have all been brought up in this environment where we need to express our democratic right but now no longer have faith that the system will serve us. It’s time to change and make a different choice.
Bath is a special place. I started work here over 40 years ago, my two children go to local schools, my wife and I both started and run local companies, in education and mental wellbeing.
In the last 32 years, we have only had an MP in the ruling party for 7 of those years (5 of them in coalition). We think differently here, our needs and aspirations may not fit the national mould. For 25 of the last 32 years, we have had MP’s that haven’t even been in the Main Opposition party but ‘just’ an MP. Nothing wrong in that, but I am constantly being told we want a constituency MP who cares about what happens locally and is also strong enough to represent us on the national stage. I believe I am that person for you.
Without the shackles of a manifesto and toeing the party line. I can speak up for Bath, on the issues you care about.
Democracy happens when we put people together, understand each other’s views and find middle ground to move forward with plans and ideas to execute change. It would be a privilege for me to serve you.
Bill Blockhead, Independent
I am Bill Blockhead, a postmodern artworker and aspiring politician (weekends only)
I am the REAL candidate for change, the true alternative.
Here are some of my key policies:
TAKE BACK CONTROL – Nationalise stately homes, estate lands used for building affordable homes with lemon tree plots.
All displaced aristocracy can be retrained as health care assets for the failing social care system
ECONOMY – Massive taxes on premiership footballers for diving and falling over
TRANSPORT/ENVIRONMENT – 2 wheels good, 4 wheels not so good, sliding excellent.
Park and Slide… slide into town on giant lemon coloured slides.
A national network of lemon cable cars, pilot in Bath
SPACE – BANES to twin with Uranus. This makes perfect sense as Uranus was discovered from Bath.
HAPPINESS – Free Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran concerts
MONARCHY – modernised slimmed down regional royalty. Install King Ned as the new King of Bath
FRONT DOOR POLICY – Bill’s Curd Yellow… compulsory colour for all front doors in Bath
EDUCATION – Close all private schools and use to accommodate homeless and refugees
Fruit picking techniques to replace PE on the National Curriculum
ABOLISH honours system and inherited titles
ELECTORAL SYSTEM – archaic, corrupt and unfair. Needs urgent reform.
VOTE BLOCKHEAD – the only Bath candidate campaigning from a bath in Bath
Theresa Hall, Reform UK
An ex-teacher who spent most of her career in Bristol, Teresa has always been community minded and volunteered at her children’s schools, church and local youth club. She left teaching so she could spend more time with her family and started her own business from home in tourism.
In her youth she supported many causes including anti-apartheid organisations, she is keen on renewable energy and bee friendly gardening.
Although she has strong connections to Greece, she loves Britain with a passion and is very proud of her British family history where both her father and grandfather fought in the two world wars.
Teresa decided to get involved in politics as an antidote to professional politicians who seem to have lost all connection with the people they represent.
Teresa wants to see drastic change and reform in every walk of life. She sees herself as having remained the same fair minded person she has always been, whilst Britain has taken a very sharp turn towards left leaning ideologies.
She is acutely aware that left wing ideologies drive a wedge between families, communities, and societies. Although they profess to make things better they do the very opposite.
Teresa’s aim is to pursue policies that strengthen the individual. Empowering people through action, democracy and education.
Strong, resilient individuals with good skill sets and education, build strong families, balanced and well-grounded children with purpose in life and pride in their identity and communities.
Two things are clear in her mind:
The current path is not working. Mountains of debt, expensive bills, young families struggling to get by, a housing crisis, and crime very much on the rise.
The hysterical pitch the climate conversation has reached is clouding every possible solution to issues of pollution and natural depletion.
Teresa is open to any conversation about ways of getting the country back on track. She wants to represent and serve the people of Bath in their true form, not the way they are portrayed in the media. Honestly and with humility. To find the best way forward.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat
It has been a great honour to have represented Bath in Parliament for the last 7 seven years.
My aim has been to earn your respect and your trust, being your local champion here in Bath and making sure your voice is heard in Parliament.
My team and I have responded to nearly 50,000 pieces of casework. Bath has a police station again, in fact Avon and Somerset Police are set to increase the services which are being delivered from here. Traffic from HGVs going over Cleveland Bridge is much reduced after I addressed the issue in Parliament and worked with my local council team to deliver that change.
Since 2018 Upskirting is a criminal offence and last year my bill to protect people, especially women, from harassment in the workplace became law.
I spoke again and again about the appalling lack of NHS dentists, about long waiting times and the difficulties to see a GP. I led a debate in Parliament after which the government had to change the way it recorded A&E waiting times.
As a former teacher I was on the forefront of the campaign to increase school and Further Education funding and without MPs like me the government would have continued with national exams during COVID rather than teacher assessment.
I have spoken more in Parliament than most other MPs especially on the urgent need to get to Net Zero and I won a parliamentary award for being the Environment Champion of the year in 2023.
I stand here on my record.
Dominic Tristram, Green
I grew up in Newbury which, at the time, was famous for a bypass being built through 350 acres without an Environmental Impact Assessment. The obvious short-termism and destruction, along with the success of the protests (the largest ever against road building, resulting in 77 more bypasses being abandoned) made me really think about our world, our impact on it, and how the accepted way of doing things must be challenged to give us a liveable future.
It was efforts by the Green Party in Newbury to promote the Road Traffic Reduction Bill that opened my eyes the importance of political power to do good. I decided to dedicate myself to change our laws to protect the planet and its people.
I moved to Bath in 2000 and have been active in politics here since. When I arrived I initially thought of standing for the Lib Dems as an ‘easier’ route to power to change things, but I could not compromise my core beliefs: I needed to be in a party that opposed the privatisation of our public services and believed that people should be put before profits. It was important to me to stay true to my principles even if having much less money and influential supporters made it harder to get elected.
I am proud to be a conviction politician. I believe that principle, and truly believing in something, is what politics should be about – not saying what you think people want to hear in order to gain power.
I’ve served Bath as a school governor and an elected public governor at the RUH while continuing my campaigning work. I now ask the people to once again consider voting for me as their MP.
Wera is likely to win. The Tories can’t. There’s no need for a ‘tactical’ vote. The Lib Dems and Greens are the only parties with councillors in Bath. Voting me into second place will change the political landscape for years to come, so I ask those used to voting ‘tactically’, or who are uninspired and disappointed by Labour, to help us do it.
James Wright, Conservative
Hello, I’m James Wright, your Conservative candidate. I grew up in Combe Down, my mother & brother worked for the NHS in Bath and I started my family here. I now live on my farm with my wife and two small children. When not farming, I am a director of a Somerset-based technology company – our software is used by 6,500 small businesses in 27 countries helping them to be more productive and profitable.
Bath has benefited from investment from the Conservative government in the last five years, the new cancer centre at the RUH, which received a £40 million investment from the New Hospital Program, and a new Police Station brought to the city by a Conservative PCC are great examples. At this election, there is also a lot at stake. Labour is coming after your pensions, your homes with increased inheritance tax and our children’s future with a VAT school tax raid.
The Conservatives have committed to take another 2p off National Insurance so that we will have halved it from 12% at the beginning of this year to 6% by April 2027. A total tax cut of £1,350 for the average worker on £35,000. For pensioners, we’ll raise the tax-free pension allowance via a “Triple Lock Plus”. Under the plans, the personal allowance for pensioners will increase at least 2.5% or in line with the highest of earnings or inflation.
Meaning that the average pensioner will save £275. Labour will not commit to the same.
In Bath we have an unsupportive council more focused on vanity projects than delivering services. The Liberal Democrats are taking Bath for granted. Last year they installed bollards in our city centre at a cost of £7.4m of your money whilst cutting charitable services by over £800,000.
On the 4th of July you’ll have the opportunity to vote for someone who has a track record of delivering on their promises, attracting business investment and who will stand up against the council’s dogma and ideology plus ensuring they deliver on residents priorities. Vote for me, James Wright.
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