Profile: Who is arrested MP Dan Norris?
Avon and Somerset Police said that a man in his sixties was arrested on Friday and has been released on conditional bail.
Mr Norris was elected as Labour MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, a constituency that lies roughly between the cities of Bristol and Bath.
The 65-year-old defeated veteran Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg for the seat in last year's general election, winning 20,739 votes compared to his competitor's 15,420.
In 2010, Mr Norris lost his seat to Sir Jacob, having represented the Wansdyke constituency – which became North East Somerset that year – since he first became an MP in 1997.
After his victory was announced, he declared: 'We've got Mogg-xit done', in a reference to Sir Jacob's strong Brexiteer stance.
Mr Norris, who lives in Pensford, has 'deep local roots' in the area having previously worked as an NSPCC-trained child protection officer and ran his own businesses there, according to the West of England Combined Authority website.
He served as assistant whip under the Tony Blair administration from 2001 to 2003, and then as an environment minister under Gordon Brown from 2009 to 2010.
Mr Norris has been Labour's metro mayor of the West of England since 2021, when he beat Conservative rival Samuel Williams by taking 59.5% of the vote.
The mayor leads the West of England Combined Authority, which covers Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and makes decisions on issues including transport, homes, business, jobs and the economy in the region.
He was due to step down from the role ahead of the local elections next month.
Mr Norris is also chairman of the League Against Cruel Sports, a UK-based animal welfare charity which campaigns to end sports such as fox hunting and game bird shooting.
In a bio on the charity's website, he said: 'I'm immensely proud to be Chair of the League Against Cruel Sports. Their work is hugely impressive and their impact has been significant.
'I'm a life-long animal welfare advocate and one of my proudest achievements was calling for, and voting through, the hunting ban as an MP under the previous Labour government and later serving as an Environment and Rural Affairs Minister.'
In December, he urged ministers to 'close the legal loopholes that allow needless cruelty to animals, and implement a proper ban on hunting once and for all'.
One of the Government's manifesto pledges was to ban trail hunting.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A 'security circus': How JD Vance's visit to a sleepy Cotswolds village sparked anger
Locals are tired of closed roads, vehicle searches and constant security presence, while protesters told the vice president to 'go home'. Protesters are set to gather close to a manor house in the Cotswolds where US vice president JD Vance is holidaying with his wife and three children. Demonstrators are expected in the Oxfordshire town of Charlbury, where a heavy police operation has been put in place to protect Vance and his family. Vance travelled to the picturesque area on Sunday evening (10 August) after spending two nights in Chevening House, Kent, with the UK's foreign secretary David Lammy. Locals in nearby Dean faced with road closures, sniffer dogs, ID checks are frustrated by the constant security presence, with one comparing the "over-the-top" spectacle to a scene from Men in Black. What is JD Vance doing in the Cotswolds? JD Vance is holidaying in the tiny hamlet of Dean with his family. They are staying in Dean Manor, a Grade II listed Georgian home that is hidden behind a 15-foot stone wall and surrounded by six acres of gardens. While this is a summer holiday, Vance has already met with the foreign secretary, and is also expected to host shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick on Tuesday (12 August) at his Cotswolds retreat. Vance and his family are expected to travel to Ayrshire in Scotland later in the week, where they'll stay for five days, according to the London Standard, with police planning their own security operation for his visit. Why is JD Vance facing protests? Protesters are gathering in opposition to what they describe as the "genocide-enabling" US regime's support of Israel's onslaught in Gaza. "JD Vance is a hideous moral vacuum and the British public want nothing to do with him," Stop Trump Coalition spokesperson Zoe Gardner told the Huffington Post. 'It is nauseating to watch ministers' displays of fake friendship with this authoritarian, anti-democratic, genocide-enabling US regime." Beyond Gaza, protesters are understood to have a broader range of grievances including LGBTQ rights, the climate, inequality and Ukraine, according to the New Statesman. The so-called "Vance not welcome party" is scheduled to start at Mill Field from 4pm, according to the Oxford Mail. In an email to the newspaper, one activist said: "It's not a mass demonstration but we plan to make ourselves heard, show the Vance meme image that we know the thin-skinned Vance can't stand, and 'dance against Vance'." Speaking to the Oxford Mail on Monday, Jonathan Mazower, said residents objected to Vance's visit "because of who he is", with some putting up signs around Dean saying "go home" and "fascists not welcome here". The charity worker said the Trump administration 'is attacking so much of what our democratic societies hold dear' and that Vance "represents the worst excesses of the American far right". This isn't the first time Vance has been met with protesters while on holiday. He was faced with hundreds of pro-Ukraine demonstrators during a ski trip in Vermont in March, following his clash with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. The vice president was also heckled during a family visit to Disneyland California in July. Locals fed up of 'American security circus' Cotswolds residents faced with vehicle searches and traffic diversions are growing tired of Vance's trip to an otherwise tranquil part of the British countryside. All entrances to Dean – two roads and three public footpaths – have been blocked off, with a heavy police and US Secret Service presence stationed at a large marquee. Only residents of the hamlet are allowed in and out, dog walkers are diverted, and those entering are subject to car searches by security. Many locals are reluctant to speak about the visit due to security concerns, but Andy Graham, a local councillor for Charlbury, said the heavy presence of guards in black suits and sunglasses felt "a bit over-the-top". 'The trouble is when you get security on such a scale, it tends to be a bit initiatory. It was a bit like the Men in Black had arrived on a film set in Chipping Norton and Dean yesterday," he said. 'We understand that people do need security, but I think they haven't been discreet about it. And I think that tends to generate more concern than is necessary. Roads have been closed up." Cllr Graham questioned the level of resources used by Thames Valley Police, claiming the force "should be doing other things", and was "disappointed" that authorities didn't keep him "in the loop". "I don't need the details because they can't do that but giving us a bit more of a steer so that I could reassure my constituents a bit more would have been good. I'm just a bit miffed about it I suppose. Stephen Bubb, a 72-year-old retiree, said he has "no objection" to Vance coming to Britain for his holiday. "What I object to, is the over-the-top American security circus that is causing significant disruption to us," he said. "You know, I think the Americans could learn a little from our own royal family. Our royal family manages to get around the country with minimum security, minimum disruption to people's lives." A couple, both US citizens living in the UK, said they attempted to visit the town of Dean because they were curious about the area where JD Vance had chosen to stay. 'We were being nosey. But the security wouldn't let us past the blockade," one of them said, having told guards that they weren't there to visit anyone and only wanted to check out the cafes. 'I'm saddened in a way that the Cotswolds will be on the radar of Americans and particularly MAGA type Americans," she added. Software salesman Miles Walkden, 57, said that plenty of famous people stop by in the area, and that it doesn't usually affect locals "too much". "To be fair, I don't think there's many people who like JD Vance around here... I don't like him, but he's a guy on holiday with his family, so I feel a bit like, if I saw him anywhere else, I might have something to say. "But if he's out with his family, I'm probably going to ignore it. But there's a lot of people around here who are not happy about it." Read more JD Vance to host Robert Jenrick at Cotswolds manor house (The Telegraph) US Vice President JD Vance set to stay at 'luxurious' estate on Ayrshire visit (The Daily Record) JD Vance visits farm shop owned by Tory donor's wife (The Telegraph)
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Police seize luxury cars worth more than £6m in London's West End
Police in London's West End have seized dozens of luxury supercars worth more than £6m as part of a crackdown on anti-social driving. Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys were among 72 luxury vehicles seized by police in its operation, which was organised in response to concerns from residents, businesses and visitors about a rise in supercars causing a nuisance in and around Hyde Park, Kensington and Chelsea. Between 8 and 10 August, police worked with the Motor Insurers' Bureau to seize the cars and issue drivers with tickets for a range of motoring offences, including driving with no insurance, driving without a driving licence, driving while disqualified, using false documentation and the use of fraudulent number plates. Officers also recovered several stolen vehicles, with another 10 identified as having no valid MOT documentation and a further 11 without road tax. Other criminal activities were uncovered and eight people were arrested. These included individuals wanted for actual bodily harm and criminal damage, drug offences, theft and immigration offences. Read more from Sky News:Thousands evacuated as deadly wildfires sweep Europe Special chief officer James Deller, from the Met's Special Constabulary, said: "The Met is committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and this operation was set up to respond to concerns from residents, businesses and visitors about high-value vehicles causing a nuisance in known hotspot areas in central and west London. "The Met has already reduced neighbourhood crime by 19% over recent months and we're addressing anti-social behaviour caused by uninsured drivers. "This has been a great opportunity to work with the Motor Insurers' Bureau and for officers to speak with members of the public about the work we do, educate drivers and enforce the law."
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Younger dealer caught after using drugs phone to book taxis
A young drug dealer was found to be involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis after he sent "bulk messages" to clients advertising drugs. He was discovered as the owner of a drugs line after he used the number of book taxis and was seen on CCTV topping up the phone. Tyler Beer, 20, of Cardiff, was outed as a drug dealer after police seized two mobile phones in an unrelated investigation. Both of those phones identified a phone number which had sent "bulk messages" advertising the sale of cocaine and cannabis. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard police were able to attribute the phone number to Beer after it was used to make taxi bookings in his name and to the defendant's address. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter. READ MORE: Cardiff teacher accused of child sex offences READ MORE: Person dies in Cardiff city centre He was also identified on CCTV footage at shops buying top up credits for the phone. On January 6, the defendant's girlfriend's phone was seized by police and that device contained messages between August 31 and October 24, 2024, and the drugs line number was saved under two love heart emojis. The next day, officers attended Beer's address where he was arrested. A number of items were seized including £235 in cash, two phones, cannabis wrapped in tin foil, weighing scales, bags containing zip lock bags, and a roll of cling film. The defendant was interviewed but answered "no comment". Beer, of Whitaker Road, Splott, later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A and B drugs. The court heard he has one previous conviction for two unrelated offences. Prosecutor Emma Meadows said the defendant had played a "significant role" in the drugs enterprise. In mitigation, Zoe Laugharne said her client was a user of drugs and began dealing in order to fund his own habit, as a coping mechanism to "deal with his background". Sentencing, Judge Shomon Khan said: "You supplied class A drugs for financial gain... You were running a drugs line and supplied drugs over a period of time, sending out bulk messages. "You clearly had a significant role. You have to recognise the harm drugs and drug supply cause to communities and those who use drugs." Beer was sentenced to a total of two years and four months imprisonment.