Greens set sights high after Bristol success
The Greens are now the joint largest party in Bristol with 24 seats on the City Council
Last updated 10th May 2021
The co-leader of the Green Party Jonathan Bartley says the Greens can win seats everywhere, after becoming Bristol's joint largest party.
They took 13 new seats on the City Council here yesterday meaning they now have the same number as Labour at 24.
Previously Labour were comfortably the larger party with 33 seats, while the Greens only had 11.
The Tories were Labour's closest challengers before the latest election, with 14 seats.
As the results came in yesterday supporters of the Greens began using the hashtag #GreenSurge on social media.
The results mean the Greens now have more council seats in Bristol than anywhere else.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," Jon Bartley told us.
"It couldn't have happened in a better place, Bristol here.
"Across the country (there was) a massive Green surge but Bristol is the icing on the cake, to have that huge increase in councillors.
"We knew they were going to do well here because the local community was saying it was going to vote Green, but I think really they've gone one stage further than I think any of us expected here in Bristol."
Whilst giving a speech in front of some of the Greens' new councillors on College Green, Bartley declared there is now "no corner of the UK where Greens can't win".
"That is absolutely clear from these elections," he said.
"We were getting our biggest gains in the North West, 50 point increases in the vote in some places in the North West.
"In Sussex, in Kent, down in Cornwall, in Manchester, in Sheffield, in the Wirral, right across the country we've been making gains and apart from the Conservatives we were the only party that were making these kinds of gains in this election."
Among the 13 new Green councillors in Bristol is Lily Fitzgibbon who will now represent Bishopston and Ashley Down.
At 18-years-old she is the youngest ever Green councillor and the youngest ever member of Bristol City Council.
She will be joined in representing Bishopston and Ashley Down by Emma Edwards who won the ward's other seat for the Greens as well.
"I'm very, very pleased," Fitzgibbon says.
"I'm so pleased that we got to have two of us elected in Bishopston so we can work as a team to make residents' lives better.
"I think it really shows that (the) Greens are a viable party, that voters understand our message and that they like it.
"We stand for social and environmental justice and people are realising that now."
We asked her how she felt being elected to the council at just 18.
"I'm just very glad that people in Bishopston understand that it's not my age that makes me able to do my job, it's my experience and how hard I've worked for Bishopston."
Sandy Hore-Ruthven stood for the Greens in the Bristol Mayoral election and came second to Labour's Marvin Rees.
He told us the Greens should now be included on Rees' cabinet.
"We should have a rainbow cabinet," he says.
"It's something I pledged during my campaign and we absolutely should have a rainbow cabinet especially now that there's no overall control.
"We've asked the Mayor to do that and we will see what his response is."
Mr Rees has already announced Labour's Craig Cheney and Asher Craig will stay on as his Deputy Mayors, while Helen Godwin and Helen Holland will stay on in their roles as members for women and children respectively.
Further announcements on the cabinet are due to be made in the next few days.