Antisocial behaviour top priority for new Bridgwater MP

Ashley Fox is now the only Conservative MP representing Somerset

The newly-elected Conservative MP for Bridgwater has said his top priority is tackling anti-social behaviour in local town centres.

Ashley Fox said that during his canvassing in the election campaign "on the doorstep, crime and antisocial behaviour came up many times."

He said it appeared to be a particular problem in the centre of Bridgwater and in Highbridge town centre.

Mr Fox is now the only Conservative MP representing Somerset – an area that was previously all-Tory after the 2019 general election.

Some residents say Fore Street and the town centre have become a 'no-go area'

Anti-social behaviour in Bridgwater town centre has been seen as an issue for some local people in recent months.

It was also an early focus for the new Labour police and crime commissioner, elected in May, who visited Bridgwater town centre on her third day in the job.

Later the same month a man was taken to hospital after being stabbed in an early evening "fracas" between a group of people in the town centre, one weekend.

Mr Fox also said there was a separate problem with illegal traveller "encampments" in the area.

"We need to ensure the police and the council act swiftly to bring those to an end so local people aren't inconvenienced," he said.

Ashley Fox won his Bridgwater seat by a hugely reduced majority of 1,349 over Labour.

Asked on BBC Radio Somerset how he would differ to what had gone before, he said: "I’ll be my own man. I’ll be approachable and I’ll be hard working.

"I’ll treat all my constituents equally whether they voted for me or not" and added that he was already setting up a series of surgeries where people could come and speak to him directly.

"I do think the most important thing any MP does is represent his individual constituents, so I've already got casework; I've already started working for my constituents," he said.

‘Camping in the Commons library’

Mr Fox was previously a Member of European Parliament, for 10 years, and said the induction process in Westminster was “quite similar” and “well-organised”.

“The one big difference is in the European Parliament you get given an office immediately.

“Whereas we’ve already been told it might take three-plus weeks before we get an office so we’d be perhaps camping in the library or in a corridor before that.”

On the future of the Conservative party, he told BBC Radio Somerset it was “a little early” to talk about who should be its next leader.

“We need to reflect with some humility as to why people have rejected us so decisively… and how we rebuild trust with the public after such an historic defeat.”