Bedford’s mayor has said he intends to stand for re-election next year, arguing voters should judge his record after four years in office and warning that political control of the council could shift significantly.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) said: “I’ll do my absolute level best to run and to be a mayoral candidate [next year] because I think it’s wrong if you don’t ask for judgment on what you’ve done for four years.
“If they want to get rid of me… that’s for them.”
Mr Wootton said the borough’s political make-up meant he had been forced to work across parties, with no group holding an overall majority.
“I have to negotiate every single thing,” he said, adding that sometimes other parties “negotiate in good faith” and sometimes “they don’t”.
Looking ahead to the next election, Mr Wootton said the political picture could change significantly.
“I think everybody’s worried about Reform,” he said, adding that in Bedford, “it’s much more about Greens”.
He suggested both parties could make gains, saying, “the cake’s got to be divvied up somehow”.
“Politics changes weekly. Whether the rural Tory votes would go Reform and the town should go Green, I don’t know.
“We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Defending his record, the mayor pointed to investment in schools, including new provision for children with special educational needs, and said the council was “right up there” on SEND compared to neighbouring areas.
He said opening Rivertree Free School was a “real achievement” after he took the decision to borrow money to “go ahead and do it” instead of waiting for government funding.
“I knew the government will [sic] pay us back eventually,” he said. “And sure enough, the government did pay most of it back, but it took a long time.”
He also highlighted road spending and progress on new doctors’ surgeries, saying: “There’s going to be lots of stuff going on because we invested, and we made a difference.”
Mr Wootton added that Bedford borough benefited from having a directly elected mayor, and said it provides “clear leadership” and makes it easier for residents to know “this person’s in charge”.
He said the alternative would be decisions made through “backroom deals”, rather than a single figure being accountable for the council’s direction.
He added that backbench councillors who think removing the mayor’s office would get them “a lot more power” are mistaken.
“The leader of [their] group would, and it would be a constant thing of deals being done and direction being very difficult to find,” he said.
Bedford borough voters are due to elect the next mayor at the borough elections in May 2027.
“Whether they want me to carry on with that is up to them,” mayor Wootton said.
“But what they do know is we ain’t done a half bad job in making a difference to people’s lives.”
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
