When we first moved to Bedford five years ago I noted but didn’t think much about, the fact we had one of the relatively few directly elected mayors.
Only a dozen or so councils in England have opted for this system, out of well over 300. And at least four have subsequently abandoned the mayoral set-up.
As a (now retired) professor of government, I might have been expected to show more interest in Bedford’s unusual governance arrangements. But apart from going to see mayor Dave for a chat and talking to a few local political activists, I kept out of local politics. My focus was on national governments, here and abroad.
Earlier this year I started a little project called ‘Who Governs Bedford’. This isn’t mainly about which party or parties hold power, but what are the structures of power that govern our lives here? They are a lot more complex than most people think.
Later this year I’ll be running a workshop at the Rothsay Education Centre on this – and the answer to the question ‘Who Governs Bedford?’ will definitely not be ‘the Mayor’.
Most of the publicly provided, financed, or regulated services and benefits we live with are not controlled by the mayor or the council.
This is not to say the mayoral position is unimportant – it is. It’s just very limited in what a mayor, any mayor, can do.
And just to be clear, a directly elected mayor doesn’t bring Bedford any extra resources or powers like the ‘metro-mayors’ in Manchester or the West Midlands do. It’s just a different way of running what is otherwise a normal Council.
But the mayoral election got my attention because of the outcome of it and the councillor elections. For the next four years, we have a Tory mayor. Even if we voted to abolish the mayor tomorrow he’d be there for the next four years.
The mayoral vote itself was, as we all know, a cliffhanger. After recounts Tom Wootton (Conservative) defeated Dave Hodgson (Liberal Democrats) by just 145 votes.
But both Tom and Dave got only about one-third of the votes cast (33.1% and 32.8%), with Labour’s quarter of the vote (24.3%) and the Greens on 8%. Bedford is divided three and a bit ways, and this is reflected in the ward elections too:
- 14 Labour councillors (+3)
- 13 Conservative councillors (+2)
- 13 LibDem councillors (-2)
- 3 Green councillors (+1)
- 2 Independent councillors (+1)
(change from 2019)
At this point, I should make a confession. I have always been opposed to directly elected mayors as a model – council or metro versions – and police & crime commissioners.
I think these ‘presidential’ style posts are alien to the British parliamentary system, at national and local levels.
I suspect the outcome of these elections is going to prove a ‘mare’ for mayor Tom. With only 13 out of 45* Councillors on his side, he’s going to struggle.
Are the 30 Labour, Lib Dem and Green councillors likely to be far more ‘difficult’ than they were to Lib Dem mayor Dave?
Don’t be surprised if a movement to go back to a more traditional Council setup emerges in Bedford fairly soon. I might even give it a helping hand myself. Something to top off my 55 years of engagement with politics?
*There are 46 seats but Wyboston is currently undecided due to elected councillor Tom Wootton (Conservative) accepting the position of mayor.
