The Labour candidate for Bridgwater & West Somerset in 2019 was Oliver Thornton. To find out more about Oliver click here.
The Parliamentary constituency of Bridgwater and West Somerset is traditionally the strongest bastion of Labour support in the County, with the town of Bridgwater regularly returning a majority of Labour Councillors.
In 2017 Wes Hinckes increased the Labour vote by 11% and the party regained it’s traditional 2nd place.
In 2019 Oliver again came second keeping Labour’s important position as the only viable alternative to the Tories here.
See results here.
Bridgwater Town Council is Labour-controlled, with 11 Labour Councillors to 5 Conservative.
Bridgwater Town Council
- Bridgwater Hamp – Liz Leavy & Leigh Redman
- Bridgwater Eastover – Tony Heywood & Glen Burrows
- Bridgwater Westover – Brian Smedley, Kath Pearce & Li Gibson
- Bridgwater Victoria – Mick Lerry & Julie Cordiner
- Bridgwater Dunwear South – Tory
- Bridgwater Dunwear North – Dave Loveridge
- Bridgwater Fairfax West – Graham Granter
- Bridgwater Fairfax East -Tories
- Bridgwater Wyndham – Tories
Sedgemoor District Council is Conservative controlled, but Labour are the main opposition with 11 Councillors and therefore hold the Chairs of both Scrutiny Committees .
Sedgemoor District Council
- Bridgwater Hamp – Liz Leavy & Leigh Redman
- Bridgwater Eastover – Tony Heywood & Li Gibson
- Bridgwater Westover – Brian Smedley & Kath Pearce
- Bridgwater Victoria – Julie Cordiner + Tory
- Bridgwater Dunwear – Alexia Bartlett + Tory
- Bridgwater Fairfax – Hilary Bruce, Graham Granter & Alex Glassford
Bridgwater returned 2 out of 4 Labour County Councillors at the 2017 County Council elections and only a few years ago returned all 4.
Somerset County Council
- Bridgwater North & Central -Dave Loveridge
- Bridgwater South -Leigh Redman
The Bridgwater & West Somerset Parliamentary Constituency has been Tory held since the 1940s, when an alliance between Labour, the Liberals and Independents backed the Independent Socialist Vernon Bartlett who was the MP from 1938 to 1950, showing the underlying historic potential to unite behind a progressive cause or Unity candidate. www.vernonbartlett.co.uk
West Somerset
Whilst there are Labour councillors in Minehead and Watchet, the political balance after the 2015 elections saw the Tories take control of the District with 21 councillors to 3 ind, 3 UKIP and 1 Labour
West Somerset District
- Watchet – Peter Murphy
West Somerset Town & Parish
- Watchet Town – Peter Murphy and Robin Nuttall
- Minehead Town – Lesley Culverhouse (Central) Maureen Smith (South)
- Williton Parish – Jenny Koch
At the recent County election in West Somerset, a left-leaning independent was elected in Watchet.