General Election 2024: North East Somerset and Hanham Polls do not reflect word on the doorstep, say Lib Dems

The predictions pollsters are making for the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency do not line up with what people are saying on the doorstep, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the seat has said.

Although the swathe of recent MRP polls have painted much of Somerset Lib Dem yellow, repeated polls have suggested North East Somerset and Hanham could be won by Labour. Recent polls by Survation and YouGov have suggested the Liberal Democrats could be in third place behind the Conservatives or fourth behind Reform.

But Dine Romero, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the seat, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s been going quite well. It's been really interesting because what is being said by the polls is not necessarily what I'm hearing on the doorstep so that in itself is quite interesting.”

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She added: “I’m not calling on every single person — but I guess whoever is doing the polls is also not calling on every single person and they are putting in factors that may or may not be true, I don’t know.

“I think one of the dangers about polls is they are kind of meant to be a snapshot of a moment in time but they can I guess be almost bringing about the change they predict.”

Ms Romero is a veteran of local politics. She previously stood for election in the Kingswood constituency in 2019, part of which is joining the new North East Somerset and Hanham constituency, and has represented Southdown in Bath on Bath and North East Somerset Council since 2003.

She said: “I’ve been a councillor for 21 years. I have had a number of roles within that. I’ve served on everything from planning to licensing, as leader of the council, as the cabinet member for children’s services. Yes, I would say I’ve got quite a variable amount of experience.”

Why run for MP? Ms Romero said: “I am aware that there is so much that needs to be changed through legislation, therefore at government level, in order to achieve greater things for the local area.”

She added: “Labour and the Lib Dems are not interchangeable. We have very very different stances on things — everything from I think the Gaza and Israel conflict to what our relationship should be with the EU. And these are things that are coming up on the doorstep.”

She added: “As far as the local factor as well, people that I’ve been speaking to have been very concerned about the huge reduction in bus services and actually would like to see something positive done to address that. Perhaps there's also something about the participants in this particular election as well that is playing out here”

Mr Romero’s Conservative opponent is Jacob Rees-Mogg, until the election the MP for North East Somerset and one of the most prominent characters in British politics. Meanwhile, Labour have fielded the West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris as their candidate. He was the MP for Wansdyke until the constituency was reformed into North East Somerset in 2010, where he was unseated by Mr Rees-Mogg.

As Metro Mayor, he’s been embroiled in a row with Bath and North East Somerset Council over the funding of supported buses. Many of the buses, which he is responsible for commissioning, were cut last year — but only after the Liberal Democrat-controlled Bath and North East Somerset Council did not increase the funding it pays to him to commission those services in line with inflation.

Are voters also holding the Liberal Democrats responsible for the cuts? Ms Romero said: “That has not come up on the doorstep at all. I think that WECA [the West of England Combined Authority] would like that to be the case but that's certainly not what I’m hearing. Don’t forget that WECA received a really significant amount of money to fund bus services and I would say some are very disappointed that their much needed services are not running.”

She added: “I’m aware of some of the services that have been put in to allegedly mitigate but I’m not getting from those and I speak to a sense that these are working out as promised. So that's clearly a huge local issue: buses.”

But it's not the only issue people have been raising with her. She said: “An issue that comes up relatively often is around Keynsham High Street.”

A cycle lane installed on the street by the council in 2022 led to a high number of pedestrians tripping and falling, with people warning it was an “optical illusion.” Ms Romero said: “I would want to know that the measures the council has most recently put in, that they are making a difference, if there’s more that can be done to make it more safe.”

She added people were also concerned about potholes, pavements, sewage in the rivers, a lack of investment in green industry, and the lack of access to NHS services. She said: “Time and time again I’ve heard people say they can’t make an appointment to see their doctor, even in an emergency they can’t find a dentist for children particularly.”

Some of these issues are the responsibility of local government. How would having a Liberal Democrat MP make a difference if they are still an issue under a Liberal Democrat council? Ms Romero said: “Better funding for local councils would be a top priority.”

She would also want social care part of the same system as the NHS. It is currently funded by local councils, for whom it is a major cost. She said: “That will free up significant money from local councils so therefore they would be able to deliver on some of those things that really matter to local people, whether or not it is fixing the roads, investing in new services, or having better leisure facilities.”

What about Ms Romero’s record as leader of the council, from 2019 to 2021? She said the Western Gateway — South Wales and the West’s answer to the North Powerhouse — had been a key thing she had worked on. She said: “One of the things I did in my short time as the leader, I got them to change their focus from being mostly about how road networks could be developed to talking about how they could bring in investment for the green industry, for renewable energy production for example.”

But her time as leader was largely dominated by one thing: Covid-19. Ms Romero said: “I believed at the time, and I have been told afterwards, that I led the council well through that time.”

She now chairs the council’s health committee, which also deals with children’s issues. She said: “I’m in the middle of doing a piece of work on knife crime. I would like, if I’m elected to be an MP, to continue that piece of work because I think that it has a lot to say, not just to our local region, but nationally as well.” If elected as an MP, she would want to re-establish the all party parliamentary group on knife crime.

Ms Romero said: “I am an ordinary person. I have not had any special privileges or anything that means that I don’t have a proper understanding of the things that matter to ordinary people.

“I am one of those ordinary people.”

The full list of candidates standing for the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency is:

• Barmy Brunch (Monster Raving Loony Party)

• Edmund Cannon (Green)

• Nicholas Hales (Independent)

• Paul MacDonnell (Reform UK)

• Dan Norris (Labour)

• Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative)

• Dine Romero (Liberal Democrat)