Green candidate welcomes Frome constituency
You’ll find a detailed article in the November Leveller about the constituency boundary changes in Somerset. At the time we went to press, these were still technically proposals. However on the 8 November they were officially firmed up and awaiting final sign off by Parliament.
There will be two new constituencies in Somerset, centred around the towns of Frome and Bridgwater. Currently Frome is part of the Somerton and Frome constituency. The official Green party candidate for Somerton & Frome is Martin Dimery. Today he put out a press statement giving his views supporting the creation of a new constituency of Frome: “I’m hugely excited by the prospect of a new Frome constituency which unites the town with our near neighbours Radstock and Midsomer Norton to the north, and Bruton in the south. Politically, it is interesting, combining those bits of the constituencies of Jacob Rees Mogg and David Warburton that don’t have strong Conservative support. It would be a four horse race, and given the exceptional Green support in Frome and Bruton, this constituency could be sending a Green MP to Westminster at the next General Election. ”
Mr Dimery feels there are lots of treasons why a separate Frome constituency makes sense: “Frome residents use schools in Radstock and Bruton, there are bus and train connections between our towns, and clear historic and cultural links. The constituency will be more compact geographically and have a slightly smaller population. It would mean our elected MP would have a more manageable area to serve. It will be less easy to hide from constituents. It makes much more sense for both the Somerton and Frome communities to be linked to their closest neighbours.“
The Boundary Commission’s proposals are due to be adopted by Parliament next summer and would come into effect for the following General Election. Martin Dimery is hoping to test his electoral appeal even earlier. He says: “With current MP David Warburton facing a Parliamentary enquiry, there’s a possibility of a Somerton and Frome by-election before then. My enthusiasm for the new constituency is based on what is best for Frome. I would certainly like to be considered for the Green Party nomination if a new Frome constituency is approved. In the meantime, we are focussed on the possibility of a Somerton and Frome by-election.“
Optimism from the Green Party is not unfounded. There has been a mini “Green Wave” in recent years with the election of Green councillors in Frome and the surrounding parishes, winning 10 seats on Mendip District Council in 2019. The party won four of the six Frome seats in the Somerset Unitary Election elections this year. At the very south of the new constitituency is Bruton where the Green Party have also done well. Their candidate for the Unitary Council, Ewan Jones, is the mayor.
More details of the new seat can be found here: https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Frome
Very interesting article, except the last general election the geen party was a couple of hundred votes short of losing its deposit, something that is curiously not refer to.
Also the unitary, candidate in Bruton didn’t actually win a seat. Nearly as much as Bruton is in the next to new constituency of Somerton in Glastonbury, as his Wincanton, which was in the Bruton ward, again, something else not been referred to..
Outside of the town of Frome , the Green Party has only one other in the entirety of the County and that is way down I. in Chard,
Rhe germ party hold 6 out of 110 seats., which at 5.4% is a marked improvement of the 4.9% return in general election 2019.
The seat itself isn’t just Frome tow. but also all the villages surrounding it. If the Green Party are expected to do well, then they need to ask how to make major inroads in areas with, I’ve never really held much public support.
Absolutely true the party’s candidate is chair on Somerset County Council committee but that appears to be due to the fact the Conservatives gave up the chairship for him. The reason why? Because Green is having sufficient members of the council to merit full chair.
The greens have been, especially active in the town of Froome, leading such things, as hoedown to deal with weeds on the streets, but have not really had much invite in terms of the cost of living prices, or even recent community based campaigns to save public buses. These have been led by others.
Some interesting opinions Barry and Iexpected them from a Lib Dem perspective. I won’t rise to the bait except to correct one assertion. The Chair of the Somerset Environment Scrutiny was offered to me by the Leader of Council, Bill Revans, also a Lib Dem and a very nice bloke.
Where’s Froome?
Soomerset