A former Somerset councillor jailed for his role in a protest on the M25 has reflected on his career and his role in environmental activism.
Michael Dunk was one of two Green Party councillors elected to represent the Frome West division at the local elections in May 2022.
Mr Dunk (known affectionately as 'Mick') was among numerous Just Stop Oil activists who climbed gantries on the M25 in November 2022 to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects.
Following his release from prison and a failed appeal against his conviction, Mr Dunk was forced to step down in mid-July - with a by-election to replace him being held in the coming weeks.
Having been released on licence, Mr Dunk still has to see his probation officer once a month and has to give advanced notice if he is travelling outside of Somerset or further afield.
He explained: "When I went to the Green Gathering [in Chepstow], I had to tell them where I'm going, by what means and for how long.
"I'm also unlikely to be allowed to travel abroad, unless it's for the marriage or death of a close relative. That's until November 24 next year - but it's better than being in prison or having a tag.
"Having had a tag on twice, and being in having been in prison, the current situation is just slightly annoying.
"If I fancied a European break, for instance, in a capital city somewhere, or just a trip abroad, I can't necessarily do that. So it's another infringement on my freedom - but it's because I'm still, in a way, in the system.
"I wouldn't change it for being imprisoned longer. Having experienced two months inside, I can't imagine what it's like either in HMP Wandsworth or HMP Onley.
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"I feel for those people in there - and the staff, to be honest, because it it must be a nightmare. They're not built for these sorts of temperatures."
Mr Dunk had been protesting with Extinction Rebellion since 2018, having been "trying to find a release" for his concerns about climate change for a decade prior to this.
He recalled the moment in 2008 when he first became acutely aware of the problem of climate change.
He said: "I was in my workshop. My business wasn't particularly busy at the time - I was a model maker, and it's rather a niche market.
"I was listening to BBC Radio 4, as is my habit, and I suddenly heard this article about climate change, and I had one of those moments - a revelation, a sort of 'Oh my God!' moment.
"Because I'd got a scientific background, I was fully aware of the implications and it was hit me quite hard. I remember ringing a friend, sort of tearful conversation where I said: 'What am I going to do?'."
That conversation led to Mr Dunk joining Sustainable Frome, and subsequently got involved with numerous protests in London - some of which he feels, in hindsight, were more effective than others.
He said: "Taking action with other people was definitely a release, and those those actions in London were astounding.
"I remember doing yoga on Waterloo Bridge and sleeping there for however many nights. Those were the good days, where the police hadn't quite got it together.
"I think the last action I took with Extinction Rebellion was a complete waste of time. I glued myself to the pavement in the wrong place, because someone else had started in the wrong place.
"We're supposed to block one of the entrances to Parliament, but instead we glued ourselves to the pavement next to that.
"A nearby policeman said: 'You've done a really good job here' and I said: "Well, I'm a model maker. I use super-glue all the time'.
"I just thought this wasn't getting anywhere. Walking around London with a banner had long since stopped being effective."
After a short break from protesting - and being elected to Mendip District Council in 2019 - Mr Dunk became involved with Just Stop Oil, after being dismayed by the then-Conservative government granting new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea.
He said: "I just thought: we can't let this happen. I felt obliged to do something, and this opportunity came up with a very well-organised group.
"Blocking the M25 is always going to raise some sort of attention, and I got to the stage where I knew I was going to get arrested, because I wasn't going to just put a banner up there and then disappear, which I could have done.
"I've got children and grandchildren - and even if I didn't, I'm aware of the implications of what is actually quite hard to get your head round: that we're changing the climate of our own planet, and we haven't got another one."
Mr Dunk and the other protesters climbed onto the M25 gantry at around 7am on November 8, 2022, tying a large 'Just Stop Oil' banner to the structure - with the police closing this section of the motorway to traffic shortly thereafter.
His family were supportive of his involvement in the protest - and he felt that his age and social class made it easier for him to take part in such an act compared to other people.
He explained: "It gives you the luxury, when you're older, of being able to go: 'Well, what can they do to me? I don't need a job any more - what's the worst they can throw at me?'.
"I apologize to people, saying: 'We've got most of the money in this country tied up in our houses and our pension schemes, and you end up with debt if you want to be a student, which we never did. And we've given you climate change as a little bonus'.
"If you take the suffragettes, I think there were some women who were factory workers or lower class (or whatever you like to call them) who did get themselves involved at great risk to their own futures, and the well-off literally could afford to do it.
"Young people get involved because they've got the most to lose. They can see the future, and and they're thinking: 'What's the point of getting a career and trying to buy a house when it's impossible anyway?'.
"You'll see a lot of people being arrested for being holding up the wrong banner and being 'terrorists' at the moment, and a lot of those are extremely old and very respectable."
Mr Dunk was convicted as part of a group of six, of which three were pension age and three were under the age of 30.
It took until September 22, 2025 for his case to come to the crown court, during which time National Highways (which manages the M25) charged him in the civil court for breaking its injunction - though this latter case was subsequently dismissed.
During the trial, Judge Perrins "dismissed all the defences" put forward by Mr Dunk and his five co-defendants, ruling that the jury were only to decide if they had caused disruption on the day.
Mr Dunk said: "I had a feeling, at a certain point, that the fact that I was a councillor wasn't really working in my favour.
"I think the judge regarded that as an extra aggravating factor, because as a councillor, I had a position to maintain, and he felt that I'd let the side down.
"I think that's possibly he ignored the fact that Just Stop Oil had thrown in the towel since 2022, and that the government had changed its law on its policy on drilling in the North Sea. He ignored all that - he had blinkers on and did his own thing."
Mr Dunk formally resigned from the council after the full council meeting in Bridgwater on July 15, after being informed that his appeal against his conviction had failed.
Under the council's constitution, anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offence and been given a prison sentence (served or suspended) of at least three months cannot remain as a councillor - leaving Mr Dunk with no choice but to stand down.
He reflected: "It's a bit weird - it took me ages to decide to press 'send' on my resignation email. I just wanted to let the rest of the councillors know why I had to step down.
"There was a slight possibility that if the appeal didn't happen until November, a by-election wouldn't have taken place, because there are rules about by-elections too close to the full local elections - they would have saved £150,000 or whatever it costs."
The next local elections will be held in Somerset on May 6, 2027 - with the boundaries changing drastically following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).
With the number of councillors shrinking from 110 to 96, Mr Dunk said he probably would not have stood again even if he hadn't been arrested.
He said: "I'm 72 now, and I've had quite a lot of health issues that seem to have come upon me recently - and I think that makes you wonder whether you really want to devote too much time.
"I've got stuff that needs to be sorted, and it's quite hard to concentrate when you're doing council stuff. Sometimes having an empty diary is quite nice.
"I could have stood again, but I think I'd rather someone a bit younger took over."
Mr Dunk said that he hoped whoever wins the upcoming by-election would help to put climate change at the forefront of the council's agenda - and expressed similar hope about Andy Burnham's Labour government.
He said: "We Greens made our mark at Mendip, because at every planning meeting where there were houses being built, we pushed for solar panels - we pushed for the best we could.
"Now, of course, we're part of a council that's struggling to stay afloat, and it saps all the energy. Not only that, but becoming a unitary saps the energy of any council - you lose staff, you lose continuity; it is a a nightmare, and that's hard to fight against.
"We feel slightly that we're on the edge here in Frome and get ignored.
"Climate change could have been number one priority at one stage, and now it's the cost of living and climate change is knocked down into third or something.
"The only good thing about this summer and the hot weather is that people are realising it's going to get worse - the fires in France and Spain is making people think, and let's not forget the war that has pushed us the cost of filling our car.
"I don't think I want to repeat what I've done - who would? But I'm hoping that we won't need to do that and Burnham will be the voice of reason."
The Frome West by-election to replace Mr Dunk will be held on Thursday, September 3, with polling stations being open from 7am to 10pm.
Five candidates will be standing in the by-election - namely:
- Dominic Ellison (Green)
- Drew Gardner (Liberal Democrat)
- David Quantrill-Simon (Conservative)
- Christopher Wildridge (Labour)
- Joseph Williams (Reform UK)
The by-election result will be announced on the council's official website early on September 4, with the winning candidate attending their first full council meeting in Bridgwater on September 16.
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