My Work

I've written about all kinds of topics, including politics, housing, transport, health and social care and the environment. 

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood opposition mounts

“The first week, it took me 17 minutes for someone to let me out of my road. There was a queue of nine cars trying to get onto Church Road.”


St George resident Kay Jones is one of 30 or so locals at a meeting at Cafe Conscious, in Barton Hill – part of a campaign to stop the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, a trial scheme restricting through-traffic. 

“My family feels further away,” says Kay, who juggles multiple jobs along with looking after kids, and has to commute as far as Filton an...

The Debrief – did Bristol City Council really boot out bailiffs?

For a full transcript of this week’s episode on the council’s use of bailiffs, click here.


Way back in 2018, the Cable launched a campaign calling for Bristol City Council to stop using bailiffs to collect council tax.


Reporting by Adam Cantrell-Corn, one of this organisation’s founders, had revealed how this practice was – because the use of debt collection agencies incurs extra costs – pushing people further into debt.


That’s before we even stop to consider the intimidating experience...

Council still sending in bailiffs despite ‘ethical approach’ promise

Jack Scott moved to Bishopsworth in 2019 before leaving Bristol in 2021. But years later, he would have to deal with intimidating phone calls from bailiffs for council tax he thought he’d paid, as he spiralled further into debt. 


Jack is one of thousands who have had council tax arrears sent to bailiffs by Bristol City Council in the last two years.


That’s despite a 2018 pledge by the local authority to stop using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax, after a Cable campaign exposed how...

Leaseholders want the system to be abolished, so what will Labour change?

“This was supposed to be my first safe, comfortable home. Growing up, I lived in extreme poverty in homes that had collapsing roofs, floors and ceilings… I have fought tooth and nail to be able to afford my own home, I’m now reliving my childhood nightmare once again.”


This was an email I received from a Bristol leaseholder after I’d written an article about residents of Orchard House in Brislington who were ‘abandoned’ by the owner of their building.


Sarah*, who wanted to remain anonymous...

Historic Bristol general election result: First Green MP, Tory wipeout

Bristol has elected its first ever Green MP amid a Tory wipeout on the city’s fringes as part of an historic Labour landslide in Thursday’s general election. 


Carla Denyer, the Green Party’s co-leader, achieved a huge swing from Labour in Bristol Central, which was more than enough to unseat sitting MP Thangam Debbonaire. In the culmination of a hard-fought race between Labour and the Greens that attracted national headlines during the campaign, Denyer declared in her victory speech: “Bristol...

Bristol general election results: the Debrief

Just like across the rest of the UK, 4 July produced a historic night (or perhaps more correctly, historic ungodly hours of the morning) when it came to Bristol general election results.

In the race the national media were all over, Carla Denyer became the city’s first Green MP, taking the seat from nine-year incumbent Thangam Debbonaire in a huge swing from Labour.


But elsewhere, the red tide that washed over the UK overwhelmed the outer reaches of the wider Bristol area, sweeping away Tor...
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