Mayor of Bedford
Mayor of Bedford | |
---|---|
Style | Mr. Mayor |
Appointer | Electorate ofBedford |
Term length | Four years |
Inaugural holder | Frank Branston |
Website | Mayor of Bedford |
TheMayor of Bedfordis adirectly elected mayorresponsible for the executive function, and ceremonial duty ofBedford Borough CouncilinBedfordshire.The incumbent isTom Woottonof theConservative Party,elected in May 2023.
History[edit]
The first known reference to a Mayor of Bedford in England was in 1264.
Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, the Mayor of Bedford came into office on 29 September. The first Mayor of the reformed Corporation came into office on 1 January 1836, and subsequent Mayors on 9 November. After the Local Government Act, 1948, and the Local Government Act, 1972, the Mayors from 1949 onwards came into office in May. The civic mayor was replaced by a directly elected mayor in 2002.
Since April 2009 theBorough of Bedfordis aunitary authority,with the executive having the powers and functions of both anon-metropolitan districtand anon-metropolitan county.
Referendum[edit]
Bedford held a referendum on 21 February 2002 on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor after a petition was signed by at least 5% of the electorate. The move was approved with 11,316 voting in favour and 5,357 against on aturnoutof 15.5%.[1]
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
![]() |
11,316 | 66.78 |
Cabinet System | 5,537 | 33.22 |
Valid votes | 16,843 | 99.60 |
Invalid or blank votes | 34 | 0.40 |
Total votes | 16887 | 100.00 |
Registered voters/turnout | 108,817 | 15.54 |
Source: Bedford Borough Council[2] |
Elections[edit]
The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 sawindependentFrank Branstonelected as mayor.[3]
2002[edit]
Bedford Mayoral Election 17 October 2002[4][5] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | |||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | |||||
Better Bedford Party | Frank Branston | 9,557 | 34.5% | 2,521 | 12,078 | 63.4% |
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Liberal Democrats | Christine McHugh | 4,711 | 17.0% | 2,253 | 6,964 | 36.6% |
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Conservative | Charles Rose | 4,661 | 16.8% |
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Labour | Apu Bagchi | 4,114 | 14.8% |
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Independent | Ian Clifton | 1,893 | 6.8% |
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Independent | Arthur Foster | 1,826 | 6.6% |
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Green | Mark Powell | 735 | 2.7% |
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Independent | Gurminder Dosanjh | 218 | 0.8% |
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Better Bedford Partywin |
2007[edit]
In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.
Bedford Mayoral Election 3 May 2007[6] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Better Bedford Party | Frank Branston | 15,966 | 36.7% | 3,732 | 19,698 | 59.7% |
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Conservative | Nicky Attenborough | 10,710 | 24.6% | 2,603 | 13,313 | 40.3% |
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Liberal Democrats | Christine McHugh | 10,533 | 24.2% |
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Labour | Randolph Charles | 4,758 | 10.9% |
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Green | Justina McLennan | 1,538 | 3.5% |
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Better Bedford Partyhold |
2009 By-Election[edit]
A by-election took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previousincumbent,Frank Branston in August 2009.[7]The by-election was won by the Liberal Democrat,Dave Hodgson.[7]
Bedford Mayoral By-Election 15 October 2009[8] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 9,428 | 26.8% | 4,127 | 13,555 | 54.0% |
| |
Conservative | Parvez Akhtar | 9,105 | 25.9% | 2,438 | 11,543 | 46.0% |
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Independent | Apu Bagchi | 7,631 | 21.7% |
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Independent | Tony Hare | 4,316 | 12.3% |
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Labour | James Valentine | 3,482 | 9.9% |
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Green | Eve Robinson-Morley | 1,183 | 3.4% |
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Liberal DemocratsgainfromBetter Bedford Party |
2011[edit]
Dave Hodgson was elected to a full term as mayor on 5 May 2011 after being elected to finish the term of Frank Branston in 2009.
Bedford Mayoral Election 5 May 2011[9] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 19,966 | 37.7% | 4,325 | 24,291 | 55.7% |
| |
Conservative | John Guthrie | 17,501 | 33.0% | 1,824 | 19,325 | 44.3% |
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Labour | Michelle Harris | 11,197 | 21.1% |
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Independent | Tony Hare | 3,133 | 5.9% |
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Green | Greg Paszynski | 1,211 | 2.3% |
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Liberal Democratshold |
2015[edit]
The 2015 mayoral election took place on 7 May 2015, the same day as elections of Bedford Borough Councillors, and theUK General Election.Hodgson was re-elected.
Bedford Mayoral Election 7 May 2015[10] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 25,282 | 31.4% | 10,020 | 35,302 | 57.1% |
| |
Conservative | Jas Parmar | 19,417 | 24.1% | 7,096 | 26,513 | 42.9% |
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Labour | Tim Douglas | 15,931 | 19.8% |
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Independent | Steve Lowe | 12,883 | 16.0% |
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UKIP | Adrian Haynes | 7,060 | 8.8% |
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Liberal Democratshold |
2019[edit]
The 2019 mayoral election took place on 2 May 2019, the same day as the2019 Bedford Borough Council election,as part of the2019 United Kingdom local elections.
Bedford Mayoral Election 2 May 2019[11][12] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 17,596 | 36.0% | 3,820 | 21,416 | 54.2% |
| |
Conservative | Giovanni Carafano | 15,778 | 32.3% | 2,327 | 18,105 | 45.8% |
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Labour Co-op | Jenni Jackson | 9,677 | 19.8% |
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Green | Adrian Spurrell | 3,239 | 6.6% |
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UKIP | Adrian Haynes | 2,627 | 5.4% |
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Liberal Democratshold |
2023[edit]
The 2023 mayoral election took place on 4 May 2023, the same day as the2023 Bedford Borough Council election,as part of the2023 United Kingdom local elections.The candidates were Saqhib Ali (Labour Party), the incumbentDave Hodgson(Liberal Democrats), Adrian Spurrell (Green Party), Alberto Thomas (Heritage Party), and Tom Wootton (Conservative Party).[13]
The result was declared on the night of 5 May, with Wootton defeating Hodgson by 145 votes. Unlike previous elections, this election did not provide for transfer votes due to the passing of theElections Act 2022,which mandated that mayoral elections in England should be conducted usingfirst-past-the-postrather than thesupplementary votesystem.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Tom Wootton | 15,747 | 33.1 | ![]() | |
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 15,602 | 32.8 | ![]() | |
Labour | Saqib Ali | 11,568 | 24.3 | ![]() | |
Green | Adrian Spurrell | 3,795 | 8.0 | ![]() | |
Heritage | Alberto Thomas | 887 | 1.9 | New | |
Majority | 145 | 0.3 | |||
Turnout | 47,599 | ||||
ConservativegainfromLiberal Democrats | Swing |
References[edit]
- ^Parker, Simon (22 February 2002)."Bedford wants a mayor".guardian.co.uk.London.Retrieved11 December2009.
- ^"Referendum on an elected Mayor for Bedford Borough council".Bedford Borough Council. 21 February 2002.Retrieved20 December2012.
- ^Sherman, Jill (19 October 2002)."Maverick mayors add to Labour's embarrassment".The Times.London.Retrieved11 December2009.
- ^"Still In the Hunt! Bedford Mayor Election: First Round Result".North Bedfordshire Liberal Democrats. 17 October 2002.Retrieved21 December2012.
- ^"Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election".Bedford Borough Council. 17 October 2002.Retrieved21 December2012.
- ^"Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election".Bedford Borough Council. 3 May 2007.Retrieved21 December2012.
- ^ab"Lib Dems claim victory in Bedford mayor race".24dash.16 October 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 20 October 2009.Retrieved17 October2009.
- ^"Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election".Bedford Borough Council. 15 October 2009.Retrieved21 December2012.
- ^"Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election".Bedford Borough Council. 5 May 2011.Retrieved21 December2012.
- ^"Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election".Bedford Borough Council. 8 May 2015.Retrieved16 May2015.
- ^"STATEMENT AS TO FIRST AND SECOND PREFERENCE VOTES"(PDF).Bedford Borough Council.Bedford Borough Council.Retrieved5 May2019.
- ^P J Simpkins (4 April 2019)."Statement of Persons Nominated"(PDF).Retrieved15 July2024.
- ^Church, Laura (5 April 2023)."Statement As To Persons Nominated".Bedford Borough Council.Retrieved13 April2023.
- ^"Election results - 4 May 2023 | Bedford Borough Council".