All the drama of a historic night as the Tories were swept off the map in the West of England

In the Bristol region, Labour won eight out of 10 seats, making it the most stunning election night in living memory in the West of England. The Conservative support fell. Not even the Labour landslide of 1997 led by Tony Blair went this far.

From Portishead and Clevedon to Weston and Nailsea, towns that have never had Labour MPs in 120 years suddenly do, as the political landscape in and around Bristol is a sea of red and Lib Dem yellow with an island of green in the middle.

In fact, the Tory takeover of the city and its surrounding counties was so complete that, from the centre of Bristol, one would have to travel for around one hour to reach a place where a Conservative MP was still elected.

Continue reading: Bristol’s Greens are now Labour’s major rival.

The only thing standing between Labour and electoral success in Bristol and the West of England was a greenfly. Carla Denyer defeated Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central by a greater majority than anyone could have predicted, erasing the enormous majorities Debbonaire had amassed during the Corbyn years of 2017 and 2019.

Indeed, the Green wave in Bristol itself may provide a challenge to Labour in the upcoming election in 2028 or 2029. The Greens will enter that race in strong second place in Bristol East and Bristol South, as well as in the two seats in Bristol North West and Bristol North East.

The red island that was previously Bristol has grown significantly as a result of the re-election of Labour’s other four MPs, who were predicted to win. Claire Hazelgrove defeated Jack Lopresti in Filton & Bradley Stoke and Dan Norris defeated Jacob Rees Mogg in NE Somerset & Hanham. After the Conservative grandee unseats Mr Norris in 2010, the Labour veteran went into an 11-year political exile. It’s better to serve Mr. Norris’s retribution after 14 years in the freezer.

However, the most astounding outcomes for Labour occurred in the southern part of the city. Previously, there was no Labour MP in Weston or North Somerset, but now there is one in each.

A guy has been taken into custody in Bath on suspicion of many sexual crimes.
It happened when a male touched a young woman and an adolescent girl inappropriately and exposed himself three times recently, according to the police.
A 57-year-old male was taken into custody by officers on Friday, but he has since been released. There are still investigations underway.
According to police, the individual was given “very strict instructions” not to go to any of the locations or nearby streets where the alleged acts were committed.
On June 11, two of the occurrences took place. At 13:05 BST on Wansdyke Path, a 40-year-old lady reported that a male had exposed himself in front of her.
Two teenage girls reported seeing the same incident at 13:20.
After a few days,

A teenage girl reported that at around 16:15 on the same day, she was groped improperly at a bus stop.
A late-teen woman was inappropriately handled in Sainsbury’s fifteen minutes later, according to the police.

“These incidents have understandably caused significant concern in the community, particularly among women and girls,” stated Avon and Somerset Police Chief Inspector Scott Hill.
“One of our top priorities is protecting women and girls from male violence.”

He said, “More patrols will be conducted in the area to give assurance, and the force will be collaborating with nearby schools to support ongoing safeguarding concerns.”
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Twelve persons in all were taken into custody after occurrences in Bristol.

Over the weekend, there were three knife attacks in Bristol. Twelve persons were taken into custody after Avon and Somerset Police were called to attacks in Lockleaze, Easton, and Keynsham.

The most recent knife attacks follow a string of earlier in 2024 occurrences that were comparable. The deaths of Darrian Williams, 16, who was stabbed near Stapleton Road in Easton on February 14, and Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, who all died from knife wounds in Knowle West in January, have left the city in shock.

Here’s what we know about the activities taking place this weekend.

Following a reported knife incident in Lockleaze on Saturday, June 8, a boy’s arm required stitches. At about 4 p.m., police were called to Gainsborough Square.

Following the attack, police issued a call for witnesses, asking anyone with information to come forward. Social media footage indicates that several young people and cars were present when the two young men were involved in an incident.

“We are appealing for witnesses as part of an investigation into an assault in Bristol earlier today [Saturday, June 8],” stated Avon and Somerset Police. At approximately 4 p.m., officers were dispatched to Gainsborough Square in Lockleaze in response to allegations of a fight involving many young individuals, one of whom had

11 persons in all were taken into custody on suspicion of attempting to kill after a knife incident happened close to Rawnsley Park in Easton. Two guys with knife wounds were taken to the hospital by Avon and Somerset Police.

On Sunday, June 9, at approximately 4:40 a.m., officers were contacted. After the incident, one of the injured guys is reportedly in a bad condition.

After the knife incident, police were granted more legal authority to “stop and search” people. In order to stop significant violence, uniformed officers will have the authority to stop and search any person or vehicle inside a designated area for a weapon. This authority will be in effect initially for 24 hours, starting at 7 p.m. on June 9.

Additionally, the force blocked Easton Way between the

Superintendent Lisa Simpson stated: “We do not underestimate the concerns of the local community following this recent incident of knife crime and serious violence in Bristol. We were given the authority to act under Sections 60 and 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.” It is for this reason that we have decided to grant our officials section 60 authority.

“Officers may stop and search someone under section 60 if they suspect them of having knives or other weapons that could be used in a significant violent incident nearby.

“In addition, they will have the authority under section 60AA to request that individuals take off their face coverings if they have good grounds to do so.

Chief Inspector Scott Hill of Neighbourhood Policing told Bristol Live, “I am aware that there have been several incidents of this kind over the past few months, but this is a significant incident.” Additionally, I am aware that the community is quite concerned about knife crime.

“Our goal is still to lower serious violence and knife crime, particularly among the youth population. We started a proactive operation earlier this year to target knife crime and serious violence, and we are collaborating closely with partners to find and address the underlying reasons.”

Anyone who was in the Stapleton Road/Rawnsley Park area between 4.15 and 5 a.m. yesterday and saw anything suspicious or has any video footage that could help police with their investigations is invited to contact the police.