Ahead of the mayoral referndum on Thursday, May 5, Green party mayoral candidate Sandy Hore-Ruthven explains why the role of mayor should continue in Bristol
Democracy gives power to people and what better way to do that than give all Bristolians the power to elect the person they want to lead the city. When we vote for our Mayor we send a clear message about the way we want our city run. Whatever your priorities, education, climate, better public transport, libraries or jobs you can use your voice to make Bristol a better place.
Because the Mayor is voted for by the people they are answerable to the people. They have to keep our priorities in mind when deciding how best to run Bristol.
The alternative being proposed in the referendum is for 30 or 40 politicians to make that decision whenever they feel like it. The leader of a committee system owes their position to the favour of a few Councillors, not the people of Bristol.
Read more: What the city's political parties are saying about the Bristol Mayor Referendum
The two Mayors who have led Bristol over the last 10 years have made some big and important decisions for the city. We are finally starting to tackle the housing crisis, building more homes than ever before; Bristol was the Green capital of Europe, kickstarting projects that have been reducing our emissions and cleaning up our air.
George Ferguson introduced Metrobus, taking thousands of car journeys off our streets each day. He introduced Residents Parking and 20mph zones in our city, making neighbourhoods safer for all who live there.
Marvin Rees has put challenging inequality and racism at the heart of our city vision, giving hope to those who struggle the most and a sense that Bristol can reflect and care for those who have been left behind.
The Mayoral system isn’t perfect. The Mayor should collaborate with Councillors and be held to account by them and, as a Green Party member, my views differ from our policy.
But, there are perfectly good Mayoral models like London and elsewhere in the UK and Europe. The alternative of a Committee System will take us back to the indecision that plagued the city since the 90’s. Differing visions from 70 Councillors will, at best lead to timid changes and at worst lead to a stalemate.
The Mayoral system puts Bristol on the map, bringing investment, jobs, money from central government and gives Bristol a voice on the world stage. If we want to keep our priorities for Bristol at the heart of our city leadership, if we want to keep Bristol on the map and keep the people of Bristol in control then we should vote to keep the Mayoral system on the May 5.
