News / Politics
Financial Times columnist predicts Lib Dem win in WECA election
A political commentator for the Financial Times has tipped Lib Dem challenger Oli Henman to become the next mayor of the West of England.
“We should not expect a close result,” says Stephen Bush in his Inside Politics newsletter.
Henman, a councillor in Bath & North East Somerset who currently serves as cabinet project lead on the climate emergency, has previously worked with community groups, charities and international organisations including the UN.
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In his newsletter, Bush writes: “In the West of England, we should not expect a close result. The mayoralty has never been particularly well-liked or effective, and the first incumbent, the Conservative Tim Bowles, stood down after one term.
“His Labour replacement Dan Norris, who had already decided not to stand again, has since been suspended from the party after being arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and rape.
“This is a grim story and people are very upset about it as you would imagine, particularly in Norris’s parliamentary constituency, which he represented from 1997 to 2010 and again from 2024, and where he was well-liked.
“The Liberal Democrats, who did well here in the last general election, have been working it hard and should win it.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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