News / mayoral referendum
Bristol votes to scrap mayoral model of governance
People in Bristol have voted to change the way the city is governed just a decade after the position of mayor was brought in.
The results of Thursday’s referendum were met with jubilation from those who have campaigned to replace the mayoral model with a committee system.
It saw 56,113 people – 59 per cent – vote for a committee compared to 38,439 – 41 per cent – who opted to keep the role of a directly elected mayor.
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The turnout was 28.6 per cent, higher than the 24 per cent turnout in the 2012 mayoral referendum.
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A celebratory Mary Page, who campaigned to scrap the mayoral system, said the result proves that people turning out to vote can make a difference.
“Taking part in democracy is something we should think of as a real privilege – ordinary people like myself can make a really big difference if you just chose to believe in yourself,” said Page, following the announcement at around 3.30am on Friday morning.
“There were people who believed in the message I had to give that it is our city – not just the mayor’s. The future is bright. We all collectively promise we are going to make the best of this and make the committee system work for all.”
It comes after a motion in December last year triggered the citywide mayoral referendum.
The new system will come into play to replace the mayoral model in 2024, when current mayor Marvin Rees finishes his second term in office.
Speaking after the results announcement in Oasis Academy Brislington, Rees said: “I really hope the committee system can deliver for the people of Bristol because that’s what they need.
Answering if he was taking the result as a reflection of his leadership, he added: “No, I’ve been very clear, I’m not running again, this has always been about the system
“We will work hard over the next two years to deliver for Bristol and try to make sure we get a really good cohort of Labour councillors elected so we can protect Bristol’s progressive political culture.”
A committee system will see Bristol City Council divided into politically-balanced committees that make the decisions. This means there is no requirement to have an overview and scrutiny committee, although some councils opt to have one or more anyway.
Bristol follows other cities in switching to a committee system of governance, with Sheffield becoming the first Core City to do so this year.
Main photo: Betty Woolerton
Read more: What a committee system might mean for Bristol
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