First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the residents of Bristol Central for your overwhelming congratulations and support following my election. Your engagement and feedback are invaluable as I begin my tenure as your Member of Parliament.
In addition to your warm wishes, many of you have contacted me about significant concerns regarding proposed water bill increases and the deteriorating state of our rivers and seas. These issues are not just environmental; they affect our daily lives and future sustainability.
Alongside my three fellow Green Party MPs and those from across the House of Commons, I’ve wasted no time in addressing these pressing matters, jointly submitting the first Early Day Motion of the new government, making the case that the privatisation experiment in the water sector has failed and it’s time to bring the water companies back into public ownership.
In my maiden speech on Thursday 18th July, I had the privilege to thank the resilient people of Bristol for their trust and support and celebrate Bristol’s history of speaking up for what is right and not being afraid to swim against the tide.
I am also proud to have tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech, urging the government to adopt more ambitious measures across multiple fronts. This amendment calls for robust action on climate change, providing safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to claim asylum, fairer housing policies that prioritise affordability and sustainability, and for the government to immediately lift the cruel two-child benefit cap which holds families down in poverty unnecessarily and will impact 2.63 million children by the end of this parliament.
While my team and I have been busy setting up our constituency office, this hasn’t stopped our work in continuing to address residents’ concerns. Over the past two weeks, we have been actively listening to residents on a wide range of issues, many of them revolving around 14 years of government inaction, particularly regarding the extension of free school meals into the summer holidays and inadequate housing and healthcare.
Just recently, I hosted my first casework surgery, where I had the privilege of meeting with a local organisation, FirstGens, a social enterprise set up to ensure that first-generation students not only enrol in higher education but also thrive by providing essential support through their Navigating University Programme. You can find out more about the great work FirstGens do to support students who are the first in their family to attend university by visiting their website https://firstgens.co.uk/
It was heartening to witness the dedication and resilience of groups such as this, supporting our community.
In the coming weeks, I look forward to engaging further with all of you and working alongside our local councillors to ensure that Bristol Central continues to receive the robust representation it deserves.
Please do contact me if you have any concerns or anything you’d like to make me aware of by emailing me at carla.denyer@greenparty.org.uk, or by writing to me at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.