Mayoral referendum Poll will decide whether to scrap mayor system
BRISTOLIANS will be heading to the polls next month. Locals will be able to vote on Thursday, May 5, on whether to scrap the mayoral system after opposition councillors had a victory in City Hall in December 2021.
A majority of elected members of Bristol City Council backed a motion to hold a legally binding second referendum to decide how the council should be run from 2024 onwards.
The crunch vote will take place 10 years after the first referendum, which created the post of Mayor of Bristol in 2012.
The referendum in May 2022 will offer Bristolians the choice of keeping an elected mayor or going back to the committee system of governance, which was in place before 2000.
The leader and cabinet system was in place between 2000 and 2012, before George Ferguson became the city’s first directly elected mayor in November 2012. Bristol was the only city that voted to adopt the position of elected mayor in the referendums held in May 2012 – which had been a national Conservative party election pledge two years earlier.
Councillors were previously required to vote in a leader for the authority, and this would invariably see the head of the political group with the greatest number of councillors take control.
In comparison, the mayoral system allows Bristol residents to directly vote in the political leader of the authority, in much the same way as American citizens vote directly for a president.
Last May, Marvin Rees was reelected Mayor of Bristol for a second term, but Mr Rees has said he would not be on the ballot paper in 2024.
Mayor Referendum: The basics
When is polling day?
The referendum will take place on
Thursday, May 5. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. »
How do I make sure I am eligible to vote?
The deadline to register to vote was on April 14. To check eligibility, you can visit the government website at www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
» What about postal or proxy voting?
The council will send you a
polling card in the post, which will confirm the local polling station where you can cast your ballot.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote was yesterday. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm, Tuesday, April 26.
» When will the count happen?
The count will happen overnight, with the result expected to be announced on Friday, May 6.