16 September 2026
Bedford Ian has been looking ahead to tonight’s council vote on whether the elected mayor role should be abolished (or not) and tells us what he thinks of it all…
Catch up with Bedford Ian’s weekly ramblings every Friday only in the Bedford Independent
To mayor or not to mayor?
People often compare me to one of Britain’s most famous lotharios.
No, not because of my charm and sparkling wit. Not because of my good looks. But because they can glance at Bedford’s news and ask, “What’s it all about, Alfie Bedford Ian?”
And tonight you might have that question on your lips again. Bedford Borough Council will face a quandary: Should we abolish the role of elected mayor?
So what’s it all about?
47 councillors, plus Mayor Tom himself, will vote on that matter. Or… maybe some of them won’t (we’ll get to that in a moment).
If they vote to get rid of the role, we will have a public referendum in Bedford Borough, and Mayor Tom could be Bedford Borough’s last-ever elected mayor.
Here’s how I reckon it’s likely to go.
The abolitionists
Labour have proposed the motion to get rid of the mayoralty. Which might seem odd, as Tony Blair introduced elected mayors to the UK a quarter of a century ago.
On the other hand, Labour have always been rubbish in the Bedford mayoral elections.
Bedford has gone to the polls seven times since then, but Labour has never finished better than third and sometimes as bad as fifth.
Locally, the party still hasn’t picked a candidate for next May, so surely all 12 Labour councillors will vote to get rid of the role.
The Greens have been openly hostile to the role of elected Mayor too. “So what?” you might think, but they’ve got four councillors nowadays, all of whom will surely vote for Labour’s motion too.
That’s 16 out of 47 votes.
The rivals (who might vote together)
For the 14 Conservative councillors, it’s trickier. Voting to get rid of the mayor’s job would surely be a sign of no confidence in, well, the mayor.
And, in case you haven’t noticed, Mayor Tom is a Tory, a Tory who recently suffered a vote of No Confidence by the full council, with only his own party supporting him.
Read: Mayor Tom Wootton loses council no-confidence vote
Sadly for him, some of those Conservative councillors didn’t manage to turn up to support Mayor Tom for the no-confidence vote. Read into that what you will.
If traffic, late trains, or other mysterious circumstances keep them away once again, Tom could be in trouble.
And then there’s the Lib Dems. Dave Hodgson was Mayor of Bedford for almost 14 years. His wife (and current councillor) Christine McHugh stood for the job twice too.
And cllr Henry Vann is already campaigning vigorously for the job. Everything points to them thinking next year’s mayoral election is theirs to win, and all 13 will presumably be leaned on so that they vote to keep the role.
The wildcards
Which leaves us with the three Independent councillors. Doug McMurdo has served under two elected mayors, but he’s no ally of Mayor Tom and could go either way.
Cllr Nicky Gribble is the only Independent in Mayor Tom’s cabinet, but she’s not always pandered to the mayor when it comes to voting.
And cllr Mohammed Mahboob Din has largely kept his counsel on this issue, so how he’ll vote is anyone’s guess.
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie Ian?
Labour needs 24 votes to pass their motion. 16 Labour and Green votes would mean they’re two-thirds of the way there.
If they can win over all three Independents, they’ll have edged closer, but that’s where the maths gets sticky.
Don’t expect any Tories to vote to abolish the mayoralty, but just maybe two or even three might discover they have other plans and can’t make it to the meeting.
That leaves Labour needing three Lib Dem rebels to switch sides and vote to get rid of the job.
Can they do it? It’ll be tight. And nobody will know until tonight.
You can watch it live via Bedford Borough Council’s website.
The full meeting agenda is here.
See you soon,
Bedford Ian.
PS: If you see anything Bedford Ian might find amusing, let us know at news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
