Welcome...

from the Chair of South Gloucestershire Labour

Our website

Welcome to our website.  The internet is now a major means of communication for many South Gloucestershire residents, and the local Labour Party is keen to be accessible to our neighbours and friends across the district.  I hope you will find useful information on what Labour is doing and saying in South Gloucestershire, as well as details of how to contact the Party and its elected representatives in the district.

Our area

South Gloucestershire forms the northern part of the old Avon county, and was created as a unitary authority on the demise of the county in 1996.  Ours is truly a diverse district, containing older urban areas on the north and east fringes of the Bristol conurbation, fast-growing modern settlements, established market towns and rural villages.  We are home to 250,000 residents.  Our area contains a number of nationally-known sites, including the main campus of the University of the West of England, Bristol Parkway station and the English end of the Severn Bridges (shown on our header above).  We are home to a number of large employers, including Airbus UK, Rolls Royce, the Ministry of Defence, Hewlett Packard and Orange.

Our role

Labour plays a significant role in South Gloucestershire politics, with three of the district's four MPs.  We have a tradition of building and investing in our community, and the Labour national Government is providing for local services on a scale never seen before. We have record investment in our schools and hospitals, record numbers of police officers and more money in social services, transport and housing. In our own area, the Labour Government has increased its funding of South Gloucestershire services by well over 40% over the past five years.

Our identity

The South Gloucestershire elections in May 2007 returned a council where the Conservatives are just shy of an absolute majority.  Labour has withdrawn from the cross-party administration previously running the council.  Labour continues to be the party of the many, not the few, and we pursue policies that will particularly benefit those in the greatest need.  Labour members also continue to combat other parties' inaccurate claims, particularly their misinformation about Government support for our district.

Our priorities

Our Labour councillors in South Gloucestershire work constructively with the Labour Government, lobby for investment in our local area, and support local people, both individually and as communities. Their priorities are to:

• make themselves available to you with surgeries, mobile street surgeries and keep in touch through their newsletters.
• consult residents on community issues.
• fight for more Government and council money to be spent in needy communities.
• work to provide more affordable housing.

Our commitment

South Gloucestershire Labour is fully committed to making our district a cleaner and safer place in which to live, work, shop and enjoy leisure time. We will work to build a community in South Gloucestershire where everyone feels that they have a part to play and everyone's voice is heard.

Mike Bell, Chair of South Gloucestershire Labour

If you have any comments on this website, or want to know more about Labour in South Gloucestershire, let us know - click here.