The 2012 Bristol mayoral election was an election held on 15 November 2012, to elect the Mayor of Bristol. It was the first Mayoral election held following the approval of a Mayoral system in a referendum in May 2012. It was won by Bristol 1st candidate George Ferguson.
Background
The Local Government Act 2000 required local authorities in the United Kingdom to move from the traditional committee-based system of decision making to one based on an executive, also allowing the possibility of a directly elected mayor. The first directly elected mayor was in Greater London in 2000. Others followed in other authorities, including Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Tower Hamlets, Liverpool and Salford.
Following the passage of The City of Bristol (Mayoral Referendum) Order 2012 by the United Kingdom Parliament in February 2012, a referendum was announced for 3 May 2012. Nine other cities also held referendums on the same day: Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield. In addition, Doncaster Borough Council voted to hold a referendum on the same day to decide whether or not to retain their existing elected mayoral system, having been one of the earliest authorities to adopt the mayoral system in 2001.
Campaigning groups supporting (A Mayor for Bristol) and opposing (Bristol Says No!) an elected mayor were established. A debate organised by the University of Bristol took place in the Council House on 22 February 2012.
The result, declared on 4 May 2012 by returning officer Stephen McNamara, was in favour of creating the position. Bristol was the only one of the ten cities voting that day to choose having an elected mayor.
Candidates Labour Nominee Marvin Rees, former broadcast journalist and party activist"Profiles of Labour's candidates for the Bristol mayoralty: Marvin Rees", Labour Uncut, 18 May 2012.
Shortlisted candidates Kelvin Blake, former City Councillor for Filwood Peter Hammond, City Council group leader, former City Council leader and City Councillor for Southmead Helen Holland, former City Council leader and City Councillor for Whitchurch Park Dan Norris, former Member of Parliament for Wansdyke and former City Councillor for Brislington West
Liberal Democrats Nominee Jon Rogers, City Council Deputy leader, City Councillor for Ashley and retired GP
Shortlisted candidates Simon Cook, City Council leader and City Councillor for Clifton East
Potential candidates Abdul Malik, businessman and former City Councillor for Easton Stephen Williams, Member of Parliament for Bristol West and former City Councillor for Cabot
Conservative Nominee Geoff Gollop, former City Council group leader and City Councillor for Westbury-on-Trym"Conservatives announce their mayoral candidate" . Bristol Post. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
Shortlisted candidates Peter Abrahams, City Council group leader, former City Council Deputy leader and City Councillor for Stoke Bishop Barbara Lewis, former City Councillor for Brislington East
Green Nominee Daniella Radice, former energy consultant and candidate for City Council in 2007 and 2009
Shortlisted candidates Three unnamed candidates
Bristol 1st Nominee George Ferguson, former architect, entrepreneur, former Liberal City Councillor for Cabot and candidate for Bristol West in 1983 & 1987
Others Tom Baldwin (TUSC), part-time Socialist Party organiser Tony Britt (Independent), former landscape gardener Tim Collins (Independent), former Labour Avon County councillor and retired planning consultant Dave Dobbs (Birthday Party), political activist, puppeteer and writer Rich Fisher (Independent), unemployed Stoney Garnett (Independent), retired postman Owain George (Independent), pub landlord Neil Maggs (Respect), accountant and school bursar Spud Murphy (Independent), former Conservative City Councillor for Avonmouth Philip Pover (Independent), IT consultant
Withdrawn Craig Clarke (Independent)
Campaign Shortly after beginning his campaign, Ferguson was hit with accusations of "political expediency" for quitting the Liberal Democrats in order to enter as an independent. Darren Lewis, chair of Bristol Labour Party, told the The Bristol Post "To me and a lot of others, it seems the only reason he chose to resign was due to political expediency. He stayed with the Liberal Democrat party when they were riding high in the polls, he stayed with them through thick and thin – until, in fact, he decided to stand for public office. The only reason that made him resign was simply because he knew the Liberal Democrats are not going to win this election." Ferguson responded "Everyone knows that I am my own person. I'm a member of lots of things but I'm as independent as they come. These remarks are typical example of playing the party game and I am not prepared to do that."
During a September question and answer session both Ferguson and Rogers stated their opposition to a proposed £150 million expansion of Bristol Airport while Rees and Gollop spoke in favour of the plans.
During the final week of the campaign, Simon Woolley director of Operation Black Vote told The Voice if Rees was elected it would be an "Obama moment" as he would the first directly elected Mayor of African descent across Europe. He also said that "Symbolically this too is a very big deal. Marvin stands before the people of Bristol to represent all its citizens fairly and honestly, but he could have stood before its citizens some 280 years ago as commercial chattel, or, crudely put, as a slave. Because from 1730-1745 Bristol was the main slave port for the UK."
By election day, Rees was the 1 to 4 favourite to win with Ferguson at 5 to 1, Rogers at 6 to 1 and Gollop at 25 to 1.
Voting system The election used a supplementary vote system, in which voters express a first and a second preference of candidates. If a candidate receives over 50% of the first preference vote the candidate wins. If no candidate receives an overall majority, i.e., over 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates proceed to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated. The first preference votes for the remaining two candidates stand in the final count. Voters' ballots whose first and second preference candidates are eliminated are discarded. Voters whose first preference candidates have been eliminated and whose second preference candidate is in the top two have their second preference votes added to the count. This means that the winning candidate has the support of a majority of voters who expressed a preference among the top two.
Result On election night, Ferguson would defeat Rees 54.4% to 45.6% becoming the first directly elected Mayor of Bristol.
ConstituencyGeorge Ferguson(Bristol 1st)Marvin Rees(Labour)Geoff Gollop(Conservative)Jon Rogers(Liberal Democrats)Daniella Radice(Green)Owain GeorgeIndependentSpud MurphyIndependentNeil Maggs(Respect)Tom Baldwin(TUSC)OthersTotalVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes% Bristol East 4,021 26.07% 5,392 34.96% 1,492 9.67% 966 6.26% 671 4.35% 486 3.15% 376 2.44% 374 2.42% 311 2.02% 1,089 7.06% 15,423 Bristol North West 7,033 35.83% 5,003 25.49% 2,594 13.22% 1,408 7.17% 771 3.93% 512 2.61% 556 2.83% 250 1.27% 240 1.22% 993 5.06% 19,628 Bristol South 9,178 36.49% 6,930 27.55% 2,087 8.30% 1,569 6.24% 1,173 4.66% 818 3.25% 466 1.85% 505 2.01% 408 1.62% 1,690 6.72% 25,151 Bristol West 11,043 46.49% 8,531 35.92% 1,945 8.19% 2,246 9.46% 2,622 11.04% 587 2.47% 453 1.91% 433 1.82% 447 1.88% 1,322 5.57% 30,068 Totals 31,321 34.70% 25,896 28.69% 8,136 9.01% 6,202 6.87% 5,248 5.81% 2,404 2.66% 1,855 2.05% 1,568 1.74% 1,412 1.56% 5,110 5.66% 90,273 27.92%
ConstituencyGeorge Ferguson(Bristol 1st)Marvin Rees(Labour)Votes%Votes% Bristol East 4,901 43.69% 6,317 56.31% Bristol North West 8,485 58.48% 6,025 41.52% Bristol South 10,725 56.31% 8,320 43.69% Bristol West 13,194 55.55% 10,557 44.45% Totals 37,353 54.44% 31,259 45.56%
References