News / Politics
Tory mayoral candidate: ‘I will bring back competency to the running of Bristol’
The Conservative Party’s new mayoral candidate has slammed the current administration’s financial management of Bristol.
Alastair Watson called Bristol Energy a “vanity project”, saying that if elected as mayor he would “bring back competency and decisiveness to the running of the city”.
As Bristol24/7 exclusively revealed, the former lord mayor and Westbury-on-Trym councillor is the new Tory challenger, replacing Samuel Williams who is now standing to become WECA metro mayor.
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Bristol Energy was set up in 2015 by Bristol City Council’s then cross-party cabinet after the idea of a wholly council-owned energy company was approved in principle in 2010.
Watson said that the company’s multi-million pound losses were avoidable if good business sense had prevailed.
He said: “Only the Conservatives had the good sense to call for the abandonment of the venture before the company was set up. Then the dithering of the current mayor to limit the losses has cost the city dear.
“It breaks my heart to think of what that money could have been used for instead of being lost on this vanity project.”
Alastair Watson says that the “dithering” of Marvin Rees (left) “has cost the city dear” – photo: Bristol Energy
Watson stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for Cardiff North in the 2001 General Election.
He went to school at Merchant Taylors’ in Crosby near Liverpool and read material science at Oxford University before a career as a project manager and business consultant.
He said: “If I win the election on 6 May, I will work hard to bring back competency and decisiveness to the running of the city.
“As Mayor I will work to get Bristol’s economy fully functional again and ensure citizens do not suffer as our recovery from Covid gathers pace.
“As well as guiding Bristol back to post-Covid normality, my focus will be on improving transport links in and around the city, increasing the number of affordable homes and achieving ambitious environment improvements.
“My vision for Bristol is to have a vibrant economy, better quality of life and great opportunities for all citizens.”
Main photo: Conservative Party
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