Bristol's Green MP says appointment is 'history in the making'
Carla Denyer jumped on a train from Temple Meads to London this morning, for her first day in the new job
Bristol Central's Green Party MP has pledged to push Labour into "bolder" action on climate change and inequality.
The party quadrupled its representation in the Commons at last week's election.
Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay hugged on College Green, where they met on Monday afternoon for the first time since their election victories, along with fellow new MPs Sian Berry and Ellie Chowns.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Denyer described the moment as "history in the making" and said the Greens would be using their new seats to hold Labour's feet to the fire on a range of issues.
She said: "With four times the representation in the House of Commons, we do hope and aim to influence the debate, whether that's through motions, amendments, questions, work on committees and so on.
"And we'll be pushing Labour to, especially in these first 100 days, take some swift actions on those low-hanging fruit that they could take to help make this country a fairer, greener place straight away."
She cited scrapping the two-child benefit cap and revoking approval for the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea as two key aims for her party.
She added: "My concern is that the Labour Party rolled back on a lot of their policies before they even got into power and so a lot of voters are concerned that they will continue to do so in government.
"And that's why so many people told us they were voting Green in this election, because they saw the value of having a team of principled Green MPs who share their values and can represent their concerns and their views in Westminster, pushing the Labour government to be a bit braver."
Co-leader Mr Ramsay said he welcomed the new government's decision to lift the de facto ban on onshore wind farms, but also wanted to see Labour go further, especially on home insulation.
He told PA: "Given the new government has hit the ground running, to be fair, in setting out its agenda, we as Greens need to be ready to welcome the things we agree with but also highlight areas where we think Labour's not quite got it right, or, often, we will be pushing them to go further on things like climate, on things like the NHS."
Mr Ramsay also defended his opposition to a string of electricity pylons planned for his Waveney Valley constituency, saying residents were concerned about their impact on agricultural land and the local landscape.
Calling for an appraisal of other options, including an offshore grid, he said: "What I'm arguing for is a pause while the other options are considered because of course we need the infrastructure, it's a matter of doing it in the right way that has a long-term benefit."