Mayor of Bedford

Mayor of Bedford
Incumbent Dave Hodgson since 16 October 2009
Style	No courtesy title or style
Appointer	Electorate of Bedford
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Frank Branston
Website	Mayor of Bedford

The Mayor of Bedford is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function of Bedford Borough Council in Bedfordshire. The incumbent is Dave Hodgson of the Liberal Democrats.

History

The first known reference to a Mayor of Bedford in England was in 1264.

Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, the Mayor of Bedford came into office on 29 September. The first Mayor of the reformed Corporation came into office on 1 January 1836, and subsequent Mayors on 9 November. After the Local Government Act, 1948, and the Local Government Act, 1972, the Mayors from 1949 onwards came into office in May. The civic Mayor was replaced by a directly elected Mayor in 2002.

Since April 2009 the Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority, with the executive having the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county.

Referendum

Bedford held a referendum on 21 February 2002 on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor after a petition was signed by at least 5% of the electorate. The move was approved with 11,316 voting in favour and 5,357 against on a turnout of 15.5%.^[1]

Mayor of Bedford referendum 21 February 2002
Choice	Votes	%
Elected Mayor	11,316	66.78
Cabinet System	5,537	33.22
Valid votes	16,843	99.60
Invalid or blank votes	34	0.40
Total votes	16887	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	108,817	15.54
Source: Bedford Borough Council[2]

Elections

The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 saw independent Frank Branston elected as mayor.^[3]

2002

Bedford Mayoral Election 17 October 2002 [4][5]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Better Bedford Party	Frank Branston	9,557	34.5%	2,521	12,078	​ ​
	Liberal Democrat	Christine McHugh	4,711	17.0%	2,253	6,964	​ ​
	Conservative	Charles Rose	4,661	16.8%			​ ​
	Labour	Apu Bagchi	4,114	14.8%			​ ​
	Independent	Ian Clifton	1,893	6.8%			​ ​
	Independent	Arthur Foster	1,826	6.6%			​ ​
	Green	Mark Powell	735	2.7%			​ ​
	Independent	Gurminder Dosanjh	218	0.8%			​ ​
	Better Bedford Party win

2007

In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.

Bedford Mayoral Election 3 May 2007 [6]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Better Bedford Party	Frank Branston	15,966	36.7%	3,732	19,698	​ ​
	Conservative	Charles Rose	10,710	24.6%	2,603	13,313	​ ​
	Liberal Democrat	Christine McHugh	10,533	24.2%			​ ​
	Labour	Randolph Charles	4,758	10.9%			​ ​
	Green	Justina McLennan	1,538	3.5%			​ ​
	Better Bedford Party hold

2009 By-Election

A by-election took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previous incumbent, Frank Branston in August 2009.^[7] The by-election was won by the Liberal Democrat, Dave Hodgson.^[7]

Bedford Mayoral By-Election 15 October 2009 [8]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Liberal Democrat	Dave Hodgson	9,428	26.8%	4,127	13,555	​ ​
	Conservative	Parvez Akhtar	9,105	25.9%	2,438	11,543	​ ​
	Independent	Apu Bagchi	7,631	21.7%			​ ​
	Independent	Tony Hare	4,316	12.3%			​ ​
	Labour	James Valentine	3,482	9.9%			​ ​
	Green	Eve Robinson-Morley	1,183	3.4%			​ ​
	Liberal Democrat gain from Better Bedford Party

2011

Dave Hodgson was elected to a full term as Mayor on 5 May 2011 after being elected to finish the term of Frank Branston in 2009.

Bedford Mayoral Election 5 May 2011 [9]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Liberal Democrat	Dave Hodgson	19,966	37.7%	4,325	24,291	​ ​
	Conservative	John Guthrie	17,501	33.0%	1,824	19,325	​ ​
	Labour	Michelle Harris	11,197	21.1%			​ ​
	Independent	Tony Hare	3,133	5.9%			​ ​
	Green	Greg Paszynski	1,211	2.3%			​ ​
	Liberal Democrat hold

2015

The most recent mayoral election took place on 7 May 2015, the same day as elections of Bedford Borough Councillors, and the UK General Election. Hodgson was re-elected.

Bedford Mayoral Election 7 May 2015 [10]
Party		Candidate	1st Round	%	2nd Round	Total	First Round Votes  Transfer Votes
	Liberal Democrat	Dave Hodgson	25,282	31.4%	10,020	35,302	​ ​
	Conservative	Jas Parmar	19,417	24.1%	7,096	26,513	​ ​
	Labour	Tim Douglas	15,931	19.8%			​ ​
	Independent	Steve Lowe	12,883	16.0%			​ ​
	UKIP	Adrian Haynes	7,060	8.8%			​ ​
	Liberal Democrat hold

References

1. Parker, Simon (2002-02-22). "Bedford wants a mayor". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
2. "Referendum on an elected Mayor for Bedford Borough council". Bedford Borough Council. 21 February 2002. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
3. Sherman, Jill (2002-10-19). "Maverick mayors add to Labour's embarrassment". London: The Times. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
4. "Still In the Hunt! Bedford Mayor Election: First Round Result". North Bedfordshire Liberal Democrats. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
5. "Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election". Bedford Borough Council. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
6. "Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election". Bedford Borough Council. 3 May 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
7. "Lib Dems claim victory in Bedford mayor race". 24dash.com. 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
8. "Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election". Bedford Borough Council. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
9. "Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election". Bedford Borough Council. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
10. "Bedford Borough Council Mayoral Election". Bedford Borough Council. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.