Referendum to decide whether to replace elected mayor with committee system

A citywide referendum will be held in May 2022 asking whether the people of Bristol want to scrap the current mayoral model and replace it with a committee system.

It will come just a decade after a referendum vote brought in our city’s position of elected mayor, a job which has been held so far by two men: independent George Ferguson and Labour’s Marvin Rees.

If Bristol chooses a committee system, the role of city mayor will end following the conclusion of Rees’ second term of office in 2024.

A referendum will take place next year following a motion brought to full council at City Hall by the Lib Dems, which was supported by both the Green Party and the Conservatives.

Lib Dem mayoral candidate Caroline Gooch ran on a platform of scrapping the mayor in this year’s mayoral election and polled just 11.2 per cent of first preference votes.

Tory councillor Mark Weston also started a petition in March asking for a referendum on the mayoral model, which has so far gained only 1068 signatures.

George Ferguson was Bristol’s first elected mayor from 2012 to 2016 – photo: Bristol City Council

Under a committee system, decisions are made by committees made up of a proportional mix of councillors, meaning that each party’s share of council seats determines their influence in council decisions.

Alex Hartley, Lib Dem councillor for Hotwells & Harbourside, who proposed the motion, said: “I’m very glad that councillors united today to finally give the people of Bristol the opportunity to make their voice heard on the mayoral issue.

“We know that Bristol has been failed by the mayoral system, from the failure of Bristol Energy, to the SEND crisis, the arena fiasco and the list goes on.

“We are looking forward to speaking to local residents and convincing them to back our preferred system, the committee system.”

Hotwells & Harbourside councillor Alex Hartley brought the golden motion to full council on Tuesday – photo: Lib Dems

Seconding the motion, Green councillor Guy Poultney (who has also represented the Lib Dems in City Hall) said that the committee system is “not a return to the past, but something more radical”.

He said: “Not a return to leader and cabinet, which would still be preferable to a mayor, but a committee system that rewards consensus.

“Councillors working together with each other to champion the communities they represent: enhancing democracy and delivering real scrutiny.

“A system that empowers people, that brings the voices of every neighbourhood and every community of our city into the policy-making process.”

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Read more: ‘Getting rid of the mayor would relegate Bristol to the status of a parish council’

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Steve Pearce, leader of Bristol’s Labour group of councillors, called the call for a referendum “navel-gazing”.

He said: “We had an election in May where candidates that wanted to abolish the position of mayor couldn’t even muster 30 per cent of the vote.

“We have a new Covid variant, cost-of-living skyrocketing, environmental and housing crises – and yet councillors are choosing to navel-gaze rather than get on with their job.

“Increased cost in Adult Social Care and a lack of support from the Government mean we have to make £23m in budget savings. This unneeded, unwanted referendum will add around £700,000 to that.

“We, alongside unions and businesses, will be putting forward our case for Bristolians to retain their right to choose who runs their city in the coming months.

“The 2020s will be crucial decade for tackling the climate and housing crises; Bristol can’t afford to go back to the days of inaction and infighting, and become a city defined by deadlock.”

Main photo: Sam Gibson Photography

Read more: ‘Bristol’s mayoral model has failed to deliver on its promises’

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