Referendum Parties hail new chapter as voters reject elected mayor model
BRISTOL’S decade-long experiment of being run by a directly elected mayor came crashing down in the early hours of Friday as voters overwhelmingly rejected the model in Thursday’s referendum.
While incumbent Labour Mayor Marvin Rees and his independent predecessor George Ferguson were high-profile city leaders, both frequently clashed with opposition councillors.
Labour losing its majority in the council chamber meant opposition parties were able to work together to secure this referendum.
And as the ballots were all finally counted shortly before 3.30am on Friday after Thursday’s city-wide referendum it became clear Bristolians wanted change.
A total of 56,113 residents cast a ballot to introduce a committee system, while 38,439 people wanted to retain the existing model of an elected mayor.
That equates to about 59 per cent in favour of scrapping the mayor against 41 per cent who preferred to maintain the status quo.
It means that from 2024, the political set-up at the local authority will change for at least the next decade.
Mr Rees, who has previously said he would not stand again for reelection, will remain in charge at City Hall until then.
He said after the result that he hoped his “fears” for the committee system were not realised and that the momentum he had built would continue.
The turnout was 28.59 per cent – 94,937 voters out of an electorate of 332,028, including 379 spoiled ballot papers.
It comes almost exactly 10 years since the first Bristol mayoral referendum when the turnout was 24 per cent and the decision was made to create the post of Mayor of Bristol.
The committee system was in place at the city council in the 1990s and was replaced by a leader and cabinet between 2000 and 2012 before independent George Ferguson was voted in as the first directly elected mayor.
Cllr Heather Mack, leader of the main opposition Green group on Bristol City Council, said: “The outcome of tonight’s vote marks a new chapter in the way our city is run.
“For many years now, important
decisions affecting the whole of our city have been made behind closed doors by just one person whom the public and elected councillors cannot easily challenge.
“In the future, we look forward to a fairer, more open way of doing business where decisions are made collaboratively, at open meetings the public can attend and scrutinise.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Weston said: “The mayoral model has proven a disaster for Bristol – too much power at the whim of one individual.
“The public have rejected this unaccountable model of government. We now need all parties to work together to bring in a more conciliatory form of politics to Bristol.”
But Mr Rees, who had campaigned to retain the mayoral model, refused to accept that the change was an indictment of his leadership.
He said: “I’ve been clear from the start that it’s not about me because I’m not running in 2024. This has always been about the system.
“Having said that, we will work hard over the next two years, deliver for Bristol and try to make sure we get a really good cohort of Labour councillors elected so we really can protect Bristol’s progressive political culture.
“Our job now over the next two years is to continue to deliver, to get as much in place as we can to build momentum.
“There will be a lot of good things landing, particularly in 2024 with the arena, the L&G site coming forward on Temple Island, the university campus, Bristol Beacon will be coming through, City Leap will be delivering nearly half a billion pounds of investment in our energy system, so hopefully that momentum will carry on into the future.”
He added the referendum issue was a “distraction”.
We look forward to a fairer, more open way of doing business where decisions are made collaboratively, at open meetings the public can attend and scrutinise Green group leader Cllr Heather Mack