On a night when the Conservatives were swept out of power across the country, it was Labour celebrating victory in the two seats covering the Downend area.
LABOUR has its first MP in Filton & Bradley Stoke since the constituency was created 14 years ago.
Community engagement worker and charity trustee Claire Hazelgrove beat sitting Conservative MP Jack Lopresti by exactly 10,000 votes in July 4’s general election.
A night of electoral disaster for the Tories saw the party lose every seat it was defending in South Gloucestershire, B&NES and North Somerset, while nationally big names such as Liz Truss, Jacob-Rees Mogg, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps were among those to dumped out of Parliament.
Mr Lopresti had been defending a majority of 5,646 from the 2019 election, when he received 48.9% of all the votes cast.
But the number of votes received by the sitting MP fell by more than half, from 26,293 five years ago to 12,905, leaving him with just over a quarter of the total this year.
Ms Hazelgrove increased Labour’s share of the vote from 38.4% to 45.5%.
The total number of Labour votes was just 2,258 higher than in 2019, but the collapse in the Tory vote resulted in a swing of 17.6% to Labour.
Reform UK’s Stephen Burge came third, with 6,819 votes. Unlike some nearby constituencies where Conservatives lost, Reform’s vote was smaller than the size of the Labour majority.
Its predecessor, the Brexit Party, had not stood a candidate in the constituency in 2019, after unilaterally deciding not to contest the seats of sitting Conservative MPs.
The Greens stayed in fourth place but increased their share of the vote from 2.9% to 8.2%.
The Liberal Democrats, who had concentrated their campaigning in neighbouring Thornbury & Yate, fell from third place to fifth.
The Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency’s boundaries had changed to include Emersons Green and Lyde Green, as well as some parts of Downend previously in the Kingswood constituency, which was abolished. It lost Staple Hill and parts of Severnside in the boundary change.
Turnout in the election was 65.12%, down from 72.6% in 2019.
Speaking after the result was declared in the early hours of July 5, Ms Hazelgrove said: “It’s the honour of my life to stand before you as Filton & Bradley Stoke’s first Labour MP.
“I’d like to thank everyone across our community who put their trust in me and in Labour to restore civility, security and fairness.
“I know that many people voted Labour for the very first time in this election.
“I will work hard to repay your trust, but no matter how you voted. I will work every day to serve everyone in our communities as an active, impactful and approachable MP you can be proud of.
“Coming from a family of teachers, NHS workers and RAF service members, I’ve long believed in the importance of stepping forward to serve others.
“It will take time to deliver the scale of the change that Britain needs, but in me you have an MP who will listen and act and I hope, when the final result is in, a government on your side again.
“While the campaign may have ended, the hard work of change starts now. Let’s get to it.”
Mr Lopresti, who had held the seat since it was created in 2010, said: “It’s been the absolute honour of my life to represent the wonderful people of the Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency community, our area, and I’d like to thank them all for their support, their kindness and what we’ve achieved together over the last 14 years.
“We’ve got a fantastic new town being built on the airfield site, a STEM learning centre which pays homage to our fantastic aviation heritage and history, and a permanent, fitting memorial for the last Concorde.
“I’d like to congratulate Claire for the way she’s conducted her campaign. The way we’ve dealt with each other has been professional, courteous and kind, and may I wish her all the luck in the world, and I am sure she will make a very good member of Parliament.”
Afterwards the Voice asked Ms Hazelgrove what the first thing she would do to improve life for her constituents.
The new MP said: “Local people voted for change, and I’ll be getting on with the job immediately. “I’ll be voting in support of the new Labour government’s programme to bring back security, stability and fairness so that we can start the hard work of change needed.
“I’ll also be setting up a local office and recruiting a great team to join me in serving local people well.”
Ms Hazelgrove said the two issues that had cropped up most on doorsteps during her two years of campaigning in the constituency were the cost of living crisis and the state of the NHS.
She said: “These are two of the top priorities for me as your new MP and for our new Labour government.”
Filton & Bradley Stoke
Claire Hazelgrove (Labour) 22,905
Jack Lopresti (Conservative) 12,905
Stephen Burge (Reform UK) 6,819
James Nelson (Green) 4,142
Benet Allen (Lib Dem) 3,596
Turnout: 65.12%
LABOUR’S Damien Egan has become the first MP to represent the Bristol North East constituency.
Mr Egan won the new seat in the general election with a majority of more than 11,000 over the Green Party’s Lorraine Francis.
He was already an MP, having won a by-election in the now-abolished Kingswood constituency in February.
Bristol North East, which includes Staple Hill and Mangotsfield, covers part of Mr Egan’s previous constituency.
After the result was declared, he said: “Bristol North East has joined the rest of the country in voting for change at this election.
“Labour has improved Britain before. I know Labour can do that again.
“I am so proud that I can play a small part and represent the community that I love and am from.
“Thank you to the people of Bristol North East for putting their faith in me.”
Ms Francis said she was “thrilled” to have taken second place in the election.
The Conservatives had held Kingswood from 2010 until this year and were second in Bristol East, which previously included the rest of what is now Bristol North East, in 2019.
But on July 4 the party’s candidate Rose Hulse was third, 1,621 votes behind the Greens and only 798 votes ahead of the Reform UK candidate.
She said: “I am not going anywhere and I will continue to fight for change.”
The Tories already had no seats in Bristol but were pushed into third place by Labour and the Greens in all of the city’s constituencies except Bristol South, where they were fourth, behind Reform UK.
Former Lewisham Mayor Mr Egan, who grew up in Kingswood, Downend, Fishponds and Staple Hill, had served as a Downend and Bromley Heath parish councillor from 2003-7.
He then moved to London, where he became a councillor in 2010 and Lewisham Mayor in 2018.
Mr Egan was selected for the Bristol North East seat by Labour members last year, but became an MP earlier than expected when Conservative Chris Skidmore resigned the Kingswood seat in January, sparking a by-election the following month.
Former energy minister Mr Skidmore stepped down with a public attack on Rishi Sunak’s policy of issuing licences for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
Before the general election he had publicly declared he would be voting Labour.
Mr Skidmore, a former higher education minister, was recently linked with the vacant role of head of the Office for Students.
But in July he announced he was launching a new private investment bank, Desmos Capital Partners, to support ‘net zero’ businesses.
Bristol North EastDamien Egan (Labour) 19,004
Lorraine Francis (Green) 7,837
Rose Hulse (Conservative) 6,216
Anthony New (Reform UK) 5,418
Louise Harris (Liberal Democrats) 1,964
Asif Ali (Independent) 1,029
Dan Smart (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) 399
Tommy Trueman (Social Democratic Party) 12
Turnout: 60.2%