‘The future of Bristol is simply too important to be held hostage to one man’s ego’

Marvin Rees has been accused of poor leadership following a decision to scrap his cross-party cabinet and oust opposition members.

Green councillor Fi Hance and Tory Claire Hiscott have both been effectively fired in the surprise shake-up just eight months after the mayor’s last reshuffle.

Fi Hance has been sacked from the cabinet

Marvin has fired Claire Hiscott from his cabinet

Opposition parties have reacted in fury, with the Green’s Eleanor Combley arguing “the future of Bristol is simply too important to be held hostage to one man’s ego”, while Bristol’s Conservative leader Mark Weston accused the mayor of being “increasingly political”.

Rees contends that the behaviour of other parties has made the cross-party cabinet arrangement untenable as he maintains “Labour’s priority remains the delivery of our city aspirations, not cheap headlines”.

The decision backtracks on his earlier pledge to lead a representative, cross-party cabinet and follows the sacking of Lib Dem Claire Campion-Smith and Labour colleague Mark Bradshaw in March.

“It’s disappointing, but not altogether surprising, that this has happened,” said Combley.

“The cross-party cabinet was always a political calculation by the Labour mayor in the first place – now he, or his advisers, have clearly decided that it no longer works to their advantage.

“Even though we often sought to avoid stepping on the Labour mayor’s toes, he has repeatedly shown he is unable to accept any sort of criticism, constructive or otherwise. This is a worrying trait – a thin skin is not a helpful attribute if you want to be responsible for running a city.

“Denial of views other than your own and an inability to listen reflects poor leadership.”

The Green Party expressed hope that Hance’s work as cabinet member for energy, waste and regulatory services- including work to ban harmful, single use plastics and tackling air pollution – will be continued.

Mark Weston has accused the mayor of becoming ‘increasingly political’

Conservative group leader Mark Weston said: “Sadly, we have seen Marvin becoming increasingly political in his public actions and utterances in recent months, presumably as a means of satisfying the new left wing dynamic within the local Labour Party.

“It has also been noticeable lately that the mayor has been very sensitive to criticism and less receptive to constructive opposition.

“The latest setback he received to his plan to close most of the city’s libraries may be another catalyst or explanation for today’s decision.

“Nonetheless, this move in no way reflects badly on the diligent work undertaken by Hiscott in the challenging education brief and I am glad that the mayor himself has been quick to concede that fact.”

Hiscott, the former cabinet member for education and skills, confirmed she received a call on Wednesday (November 29) evening informing her of the decision.

Eleanor Combley has accused the mayor of poor leadership

Combley continued: “For our part, we will continue to hold the Labour administration and mayor to account for their decisions and work for the good of the city, whether that means working with the administration, or when it refuses to do so – as it often has – against it.

“The mayor called that ‘point-scoring’ – as far as we’re concerned it’s called ‘doing our job’.”

Marvin Rees says Labour’s priority remains the delivery of our city aspirations, not cheap headlines.

Rees said: “After winning the mayoralty and our majority in City Hall eighteen months ago, I reached out to all parties and asked them to join us in working in the best interests of Bristol.

“We formed a cabinet which looked more like the people we represent than any that have come before it.

“The Labour group and I are proud of these achievements, but it is increasingly clear that the behaviour of other parties has made this arrangement untenable.

“In my recent state of the city speech, I renewed my invitation to the other parties to drop the race for headlines and work with us to deliver for the city but they have shown no change in behaviour or no more intent to work with us, for the city.

“Labour’s priority remains the delivery of our city aspirations, not cheap headlines.

“Therefore, I have written to the leaders of the Green and Conservative groups to advise them that the cross party cabinet cannot continue.”

He added that cabinet appointments will be announced shortly.

Main photo features Rees’ original cabinet which included a member from each of the main opposition parties.

Read more: Rees consolidates power in cabinet reshuffle