Three Lions pub landlord says Bristol needs a mayor - but both George and Marvin haven’t been good enough

On the eve of the mayoral referendum, a pub landlord who stood for Mayor criticises both Marvin Rees and George Ferguson.

Sean Donnelly, of the Bristol City pub The Three Lions, feels neither the current nor the former Mayor effectively represented the real voice of the city.

The Bedminster-based pub owner says this is what motivated him to stand as an independent in 2021, when he received almost 5,000 votes - the highest count outside the main political parties.

Despite the criticism, 59-year-old stops short of wanting to do away with the mayoral role itself, and does not rule out putting himself forward once again.

Mr Donnelly is the latest guest in the Legends of Bristol video series to talk to journalist Neil Maggs, who meets Mr Donnelly at the pub he has been landlord at for 25 years.

The pub, which is synonymous with Bristol City FC, is adorned with memorabilia from the club over the years. It is perhaps most famous for its annual Flag Day, which gathers a lot of media attention, where fans bring along flags waving them outside and parading through the local streets.

A lifelong City fan himself, Mr Donnelly says that when he was manager of the pub’s Sunday football team side, they were once littered with ex City players. Remarkably, the likes of Lewis Carey, Scott Murray, Colin Cramb, Tony Thorpe and Alex Russell all played in the same team under him.

He took a turn away from pubs and football in May 2021, when he took the plunge into the world of politics and stood as an independent candidate for Bristol Mayor, after being left frustrated with a city rapidly changing.

His campaign slogan was based around making ‘Bristol Gert again’ moving away from what he sees as student Bristol, to reconnecting to the real Bristol. Attracting these voters he accepts was not an easy task.

He explained: “I think the biggest problem when I was doing the Mayor thing, was trying to get through to people. As you can see the lowest turnouts are in white working-class areas. People don’t vote. They just don’t go.”

Mr Donnelly did, however, achieve some cut through, with his message proving popular in some circles as he received almost 5,000 votes, the most amongst all the independents and smaller parties.

Feeling slightly intimidated, the pub landlord felt different than the other candidates in the debates that took place. He explained: “I just feel that they know their education beats you. When you have got to sit and do an interview, and you’re very acutely aware of it.

“I stuck to track suits. I stuck to normal clothes. Very deliberately because that’s what I wear in my work in day to day. Until the final hustings.”

Mr Donnelly is no fan of Marvin Rees or George Ferguson, but still believes the city need a mayor, just one that’s better and more representative of the city.

He continued: “I don’t think the actual mayor we got at the moment, and I don’t know Marvin, but I don’t think that works. But the actual idea of a mayor I do.

“So, if you go back to him, and George prior, I didn’t like either from a politics point of view. But I think they have achieved more than what a mixed council would, where they used to sit with however many people just arguing and coming out with no resolution.”

When asked if he would stand again, Mr Donnelly replied he was ‘unsure still’.