Bristol chooses George Ferguson as mayor

Bristol demonstrated to the country its independent mind by rejecting the main political parties and choosing George Ferguson as its first elected mayor.

The red-trousered architect, who campaigned during the referendum campaign for a Bristol mayor in the summer, won after the second round of voting – a run-off with pre-election day favourite Marvin Rees.

Mr Ferguson received 37,353 votes, including second preference votes, giving him a combined 36.74% share of the city’s vote. Mr Rees ended up with 31,259 votes – a 30.75% share.

The announcement of the election result – which generated an overall turnout of 27.92% – came at just before 4pm, and Mr Ferguson pledged to leave the city in a better place than when he takes up the office on Monday.

He said the city had voted for “a new way of doing things” and said he would be on the phone to the prime minister to demand new powers.

“I intend to ask David Cameron for more powers and more resources for Bristol – we deserve it,” he said. “We delivered what the wanted [an elected mayor] now they need to deliver what we want.

“I feel an enormous responsibility to get this right. I ask you all, let’s pull together, and I will be making one oath, the oath that the young men of ancient Athens made – I shall not leave this city any less but rather greater than when I found it.”

He told Bristol24-7 after the announcement that he intended to start forming his cabinet next week and said he hoped all parties would get involved. He added that he held no grudge against some of the negative campaigning put his way over the last few weeks.

“Crazy things are said in elections, some have been completely out of order but I hold no grudges,” he said.

“I just hope that every member of council will be prepared to pile in for the sake of Bristol. They will just be silly if they exclude themselves.”

Meanwhile, he told us that he wanted to ensure his lasting legacy would be the long-discussed arena for Bristol. When asked what one thing he hoped to achieve during his term in office, he told us:”If I may have the liberty of saying two things, one is that I want people to feel really proud to live in Bristol and remove the cynicism.

“Plus, we need to deliver a really significant project we can all be proud of and I am absolutely determined to deliver an arena for Bristol. It’s disgraceful that we have to go elsewhere to see the big acts. But it will be more than a building, it will be about what Bristol stands for. So let’s make a Bristol which everyone feels part of.”

Despite being the bookies’ 4-1 on favourite yesterday, Mr Rees and the Labour campaign team failed to attract enough of their core vote in usual Labour areas to vote.

Speaking after the result was announced, Mr Rees said he had been “humbled” throughout the campaign but insisted he would bounce back.

“If you have inspiration, then buckle up, because along the way you will fail,” he said. “I failed today, we didn’t win, but that just comes with the territory. It’s what you do next that is key, and I am hoping that there is an greater good in what has happened.”

He called on the new mayor to set out a long-term vision for Bristol.

“We need to decide what we want Bristol to be and how we will get there,” he said.

“We must tackle inequality, as this is the key policy to deal with the fractures that cut the integrity of the city.

“An I say unapologetically that we need to improve engagement – we need to involve those who think politics has nothing to do with them, those who are dependent on politics, to get involved.”

Defeated Liberal Democrat candidate Jon Rogers said he expected his party colleagues to be able to work with Mr Ferguson. However, the new mayor may struggle to attract Labour members to the team, with members telling us the party’s National Executive Committee may scupper any move for Labour councillors to join the mayoral cabinet.

Bristol Manifesto campaigner Jaya Chakrabarti, who was part of the pro-mayor referendum team earlier this year, said Mr Ferguson would be likely to make mistakes – as any candidate would do – but celebrated the city’s independent streak.

Mr Ferguson will be officially given the title of mayor of Bristol on Monday at a ceremony expected to take place at Temple Meads station.