He wants a piece of the financial levelling up pie, he thinks that people are essentially good, especially if they are treated well, and he feels right at home.

Nub News interviewed the WECA Mayor Dan Norris about what makes the Somer Valley special, why he believes Britain is Great and how the local bus service could see him spending a week in Bath without a return ticket.

On a gloriously sunny day in Midsomer Norton we were keen to chat with Mr Norris about his ambitions for the town, but we started by asking .... what is good about the Somer Valley?

The WECA Mayor elected in May with 40,000 lead over his nearest rival, was previously the MP for what was Wansdyke for 13 years, so he is not some political outsider.

" It is the people of course, they are amazing. They have always been very kind to me, but they have also been very tough - and straight - and they want straight answers. That is how I am or how I like to think I am. "

So what, in his opinion, is the biggest issue facing Midsomer Norton ?

" What I think the challenge is for people in Midsomer, is that they do want change, want better homes and new skills and well paid jobs, but they also want to keep the community the same as it has been traditionally. That is understandable, because it is a lovely community. And that is the thing that I will try and square - not just here by in the rest of the West of England - retaining the sense of community and the best things about what that means for the residents - while making things better for that community."

Mr Norris represents a total area of 1.2 million residents.

" I have the full range of communities from the urban of Bristol to the the lovely towns like Midsomer Norton, right through to very remote rural areas. It is a huge huge constituency, with a huge diversity. which is why I love it. But despite all the diversity and the differences, one thing they have in common they are decent people who want the best for their families and their communities."

He campaigned under the banner of 'The West Could Do Better' - so what improvements are needed?

" We do not have the transport system we need - it is that simple.

We know that buses are sporadic and they don't go where you want. You often have to make journeys into cities like Bath to get out to somewhere else. Where I live, there is only a bus once a week, into the city and if I take that I have around two hours in Bath before I need to catch a bus back or I am stuck there for a week, that's the reality.

"The transport here in Midsomer Norton has been such a hindrance to our young people, who end up not being able to stay in our area and we need them. The pandemic has taught every one the importance of living in a community.

"So the real challenge is that while we want to keep the community unique and special in the Somer Valley, we need better transport and then we also want to be connected. So broadband needs to be the best it can possibly be, these rural areas should be priorities."

Mr Norris prior to getting into politics worked in social care as a child protection officer. Did that dent his optimism ?

" I am certainly not a pessimist, I still believe that most people are good.

There are bad people but my experience has been that most people are the way they are because of their life experiences, which is why I am in politics, because I want to give people the best possible options that I can and to, I hope, build the best possible environment to grow up in and to grow old in.

" That is why I want the government's so called levelling-up money to come to the West Country. Yes it seems it is an affluent area, but we need help and we want want money to come from Whitehall to the West of England and that hasn't happened. We need extra money to do things like improve public transport, to build affordable homes and to offer life long learning.

"A baby born today will have six or seven different professions in their lifetime. We need to offer skills and training to keep up with that.

"I am unimpressed with the way the government are doing so called levelling up because they are using figures that hide the true extent of the poverty that exists here. Not just financial poverty, emotional, care and support poverty. "

So why is it that people believe the West is an affluent part of the UK ?

" In some ways we are well off here - but there are pockets of deprivation. Partly it is because our industries like aerospace, making satellites, lots of digital and design and we are very creative here in the region - hide the obvious - that the fact that there people who are poor, here but they are not as obvious as it would be if a big industrial town shuts down.

"That's why I will be working with MPs across ALL the parties in the West to get more money. We need a bigger pie to deal with these issues of isolation. My target is simply to get more money so that Metro mayors like myself can make improvement in transport, supporting business, housing... that's what we need more of the cake for.

"If we get the money from the government then we can get this done. They have to know that if they (the government) gives us money we will use it wisely and well. We will make sure that our region - and Britain PLC - will do well ."

What else do you feel passionately about?

" Animal welfare. I have a beautiful dog called Angel, who was there when my election results were announced. That is also something special about the UK, in that we love our animals more than any other nation in the world I think.

"I am passionately anti hunting. One of my proudest achievements is in helping bring in the hunting ban. I do see it is a mark of a society and how civilised it is, in how it treats its animals. We do not need to chase foxes, we do not eat them, it is totally unnecessary in my view. It is a mark of how Great Britain is that all our communities, in the cities and in the countryside, that we care about animals.

"I also want the West of England to be the bee pollinator capital of the UK. I want to see those insects and flowers and biodiversity back to how it was when I was a kid. Since one of the West's big 'industries' is food production, that makes sense from a business perspective too."