Greens in Kingswood are celebrating our best ever result in a South Gloucestershire parliamentary election. In the recent Kingswood by-election our candidate, Lorraine Francis received 5.8% of the vote share, more than doubling our previous highest percentage and retaining our deposit for the first time in South Gloucestershire. According to the BBC, the Green Party received the fifth best result it has ever achieved in a by-election.
“Thank you to everyone who voted for me. You voted for a fresh approach to politics, for protection of our environment and for policies and services that work for you,” said Lorraine. “Some leaflets from other political parties disparaging racialised groups inspired me to keep going. This type of behaviour is not helpful and simply stops local people from focusing on the bigger picture including concerns about higher food prices, petrol and the overall cost of living.”
Continuing to work for our local area
We congratulate Lorraine and all the team on a positive and constructive campaign. Lorraine is very knowledgeable about our local area and cares deeply about the issues that affect the people of South Gloucestershire and Bristol. We are delighted that she is also standing as a candidate in the new Bristol North East constituency.
The by-election was sparked by the resignation of Chris Skidmore over the Government’s damaging lack of responsibility over its climate responsibility. In light of this, it was no surprise that environmental issues, in particular the protection of greenbelt land, featured heavily in this by-election. We congratulate Kingswood's new MP, Damien Egan. We will continue to hold him to account for the promises made during this election campaign and stand up for the issues that matter to local people and the local environment.
Building on success
Now that the by-election campaign is over, we are looking ahead to the General Election. Can you help us build on the success of Lorraine’s campaign? Here are some ways you can help:
- Following us and sharing our posts on social media
- Telling your friends about what Greens in South Glos are doing
- Sharing your stories and telling us what issues matter to you
- Volunteer to help with the General Election campaign
- Join the Green Party!
