A former rough sleeper who has battled mental health issues and now champions against the stigma has become Bristol’s lord mayor – and then got engaged minutes later to his longtime partner. Labour backbench Cllr Paul Goggin promised to “recognise the unrecognised” during his year in the historic, ceremonial role as the city’s “first citizen”.
He was sworn in during the annual full council meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, May 9, and, during the interval, proposed to Deborah Griffiths, his girlfriend of 17 years, in the lord mayor’s parlour at City Hall before returning to tell the chamber she had said yes. The Hartcliffe & Withywood ward councillor succeeds Green Cllr Paula O’Rourke who becomes deputy lord mayor.
In an acceptance speech full of self-deprecating, wry humour he said: “We’ve had a lord mayor in Bristol since 1216. So what is a lord mayor? I guess they’re normally well respected, rich in cultural capital, experts in etiquette, socially connected, genteel, erudite, skilful, charismatic orators with real gravitas… I’ll get me coat.
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“Or as Obi-Wan might say, this is not the lord mayor you‘re looking for.” Cllr Goggin said he had been asking himself how he got to the position and outlined his chequered life, from growing up in London and dropping out of school because “life happens to us all” to sleeping rough in Bristol.
“In no particular order, I’ve built motorbikes, sold investment grade diamonds, been a croupier in a smoky casino and gone door to door selling carpet cleaner. I moved to Bristol in 2003 but in 2005 I became homeless through no fault of my own and had to sleep on the streets and sofa-surfed with friends.
“Then Bristol Council stepped in to help me. I lived in emergency accommodation for six months, alongside refugees, asylum seekers and other unfortunate Bristolians.
“It was a difficult time to say the least and I saw things that would make the devil blush.” He said local mental health charity Second Step helped him find temporary accommodation before he moved into a council bungalow in Knowle West where he still lived.
“And, as some of you know from my previous speeches in this room, I live with bipolar disorder and complex PTSD,” Cllr Goggin said. “In a way they don’t hamper me, they enable me to think slightly differently from most others – my secret superpower.
“I also have chronic anxiety, and I can’t put into words how difficult this is today because I’m talking about myself. But we must keep speaking out about our mental health issues, not be ashamed or embarrassed – own it, normalise it to fight against the stigma so many suffer from.”
He said he was a humanist – the first sworn into the office of Bristol lord mayor – whose members rejected the idea of an afterlife and believed in “science, reason and evidence”. “Don't be mistaken into thinking this is in any way anti-religious – it’s quite the opposite,” Cllr Goggin said.
“The basic tenets are this – we treat all around us with warmth, understanding and respect regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. We believe this is our one and only life and therefore concentrate on the here and now.
“I will of course still champion all the faiths in this wonderfully diverse city but also the increasing number of those with none. My theme as lord mayor, along with what I’ve already mentioned, will be to recognise the unrecognised.
“And by that I mean those that labour away behind the scenes so that we all can do our jobs – those who serve us lunch, work long hours on the doors or clean the offices. Without them there would be no us.”
Tabling the motion for Cllr Goggin to become lord mayor, Labour group leader Cllr Steve Pearce said that for many of the eight centuries the position existed, it was reserved for Bristol’s elite. “Anyone who knows Paul will know that that label doesn’t quite apply to him,” he said.
“He’s been very open about his past and it’s why there’s nobody better suited to becoming Bristol’s first citizen, someone who truly understands the lives of all Bristolians, especially those that are underrepresented in the council chamber. And ‘understanding’ is the word I’d like to use – his understanding of the challenges facing the working class and as lord mayor has promised to work with mental health charities, alcohol charities and to help those organisations that helped him.
“This is what we need from a lord mayor.” Green Cllr Tony Dyer, seconding the motion, said: “We all know Paul learned his politics on the streets of Bristol, quite literally, and from working in the trade union movement.
“Paul is working class and will bring those working-class sensibilities, understanding and lived experience to the role of lord mayor.”
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