Bristol Mayor Referendum 2022: Mayor vs ex-mayor, why they want you to vote with them

Bristol will vote to decide whether to keep the role of mayor or switch to a committee system with councillors on Thursday (May 5).

The decision on the mayoral system, introduced 10 years ago, has split political parties in the city, with the Labour Party campaigning for it, while the Lib Dems, Greens and Conservatives wanting a committee running the city instead.

So, how would you like Bristol City Council to be run? We’ve collated from two the people who know more than most about the role - ex mayor George Ferguson, who is against the mayoral system, and current mayor Marvin Rees, who is for

Here’s what they said:

George Ferguson - Bristol Mayor, 2012-16

It might appear strange for a former mayor to be campaigning against the idea of a mayor in Bristol - but then George Ferguson doesn’t always go by the book.

The architect won the first mayor election in the city as an independent in 2012, bringing in a raft of measures - some popular, some not - during his four-year spell before current Labour mayor Marvin Rees won in the 2016 election.

Despite losing that vote, Mr Ferguson has remained involved in city life, and at the start of this year he announced his New Year’s Resolution was to ‘take the gloves off’ and ‘fight like hell for ‘Bristol’.

Now he stands as part of a group campaigning to end the role of Bristol Mayor ahead of a referendum on May 5 - 10 years after the first referendum which created the post after 12 years of a leader and cabinet system.

Committee system

“There are currently 70 councillors across four parties - you are bound to get a more representative council, with a leader elected by a multi-party council, than one person grabbing all power.

“I ensured decision making was shared with a multi-party cabinet, as was promised by our current mayor but dispensed with in order to take single minority party control.

“People will also have far greater access to local councillors than the mayor’s office, making for a much closer relationship.”

One mayor for the region

“There have been a huge number of changes since I was mayor I led negotiations to set up a combined authority with a Metro Mayor role [in 2017]. Today, when dealing with funding and city regeneration, the Government looks to metro mayors, and not city mayors.

“Having both, vying for influence, is proving to be dysfunctional and against the best interests of the city as has been shown by recent clashes between the two offices.

“We should be providing more clarity by giving greater powers to the metro mayor with his cabinet of District Council leaders - it is only then we will get better results for our city and region, when negotiating with the Government. We only need to look at the success of city regions such as Greater Manchester”

Bristol boundaries

“Bristol has burst outside its boundary with much of the urban area now in South Glos making it is a no brainer that strategic transport, housing, health etc should be planned across the city region, not wishing artificial boundaries.

“The metro mayor, working with all four Council leaders, including North Somerset, who, for political reasons, have been frozen out by the Bristol mayor, is in a far better position to do that.”

Marvin Rees - Bristol Mayor, 2016 - current

Marvin Rees was first elected mayor in May 2016 and, after serving an extended five-year first term due to the pandemic, was re-elected as Mayor in May 2021.

‘Unapologetically ambitious’ and a keen advocate for social justice, Mr Rees has described becoming mayor as a deeper commitment to building a ‘fairer, more inclusive world’.

High on the agenda for Mr Rees is housebuilding, which he has deemed ‘core’ to building up the city’s economy - during his first term in office, he oversaw the building of almost 9,000 homes.

Mr Rees has outlined why he thinks the role of a mayor for Bristol should continue and urged people to see beyond the ‘party politics’ of the referendum.

Power to the people

"There's a fundamental difference between the committee system and the mayoral system, and that's who gets to choose the political leader for this city.

“It’s a case of is the leader chosen directly by the people of Bristol, or is the leader chosen by the councillors in this chamber, negotiating among themselves?

Outcomes for Bristol

“The important thing is that we choose a system that works for the city, not the councillors. What you have with the mayoral system is a position that’s forced to face outwards, quite rightly, and talk to the city.

“Our political system is not about creating nice feelings for politicians. It’s about getting outcomes for the people of Bristol. The top priority for Bristol right now is not spending £700,000 on a referendum. It’s tackling the cost of living crisis, the housing crisis, decarbonising the economy, protecting nature, building secondary schools.

“And yet [the mayoral system] is what the Council chamber has chosen to focus on.”

Party politics

“There was an election last year and my record, commitments and leadership were held to account, and I won the election. The two parties that overwhelmingly lost the election, who ran on the 'scrap the mayor' campaign and spent weeks telling everyone that I was appalling, lost by a long way.

“This is as close to the opposition parties can get to re-running an election they lost. The mayoral system wasn't an issue that the city was debating, but it's an issue that's been foisted upon the city through an internal council process in the motion.

“And my warning is that this kind of internal mashination is what will consume Bristol City Council if we go to a committee system. It will be those internal strategies, those little opportunities within council constituion and process, that allow competing parties to try and turn each over irrespective of what the city is in need of.”