2015 General Election Campaign

Equality Bristol is currently focusing on lobbying Bristol’s key politicians to recognise the damaging impacts of high income inequality and take measure to reduce it.

In the lead up to the General Election, Equality Bristol will be contacting the parliamentary candidates for the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green party and UKIP in the four Bristol constituencies asking them to sign a declaration to support increasing the National Minimum Wage, closing the gap between the highest and lowest paid, and requiring employers to publish the ratio of highest to lowest pay.

Equality Bristol is asking Bristol’s would-be MPs to sign a declaration as follows:

“I recognise that current levels of income inequality in Bristol and the UK as a whole are damaging and I am keen to see income inequality reduced in my constituency and throughout the UK.

I therefore declare that, if I am elected as a Member of Parliament, I will:

1. Advocate increasing the National Minimum Wage, so that by 2020 the National Minimum Wage matches the Living Wage (as assessed by the Centre for Social Research at Loughborough University).
2. Advocate measures to reduce the gap between the highest and lowest paid in the UK.
3. Support the introduction of legislation requiring all organisations employing 20 or more staff in the UK to make public the extent of their pay gap by publishing the ratio of the pay of their highest paid member of staff to the pay of their lowest paid member of staff.”

As of 28th March we have received signed declarations from:

Mark Wright, Lib Dem candidate for Bristol South

Tony Dyer, Green Party PPC for Bristol South

Thangem Debbonaire, Labour candidate for Bristol West

Justin Quinnell, Green candidate for Bristol North West