Bristol will discover who will lead the city for the next four years later today, as the Conservatives face a national wipe-out following yesterday’s local elections.
Rishi Sunak’s Tories have already lost over 100 council seats – almost half of the seats they are defending – with 35 of 107 councils having declared.
Labour have been the big winners, taking control of three councils and winning the Blackpool South by-election.
Labour GAIN from the Conservatives 🌹
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 3, 2024
Congratulations to @ChrisPWebb, the new Labour MP for Blackpool South. pic.twitter.com/iXHxG7yEev
In Bristol, it’s the Greens who are confident of taking power at City Hall.
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party and parliamentary candidate for Bristol Central, said: “We’re hoping to have a record-breaking number of councillors, and we are very much prepared to be part of the administration post-local election, which may include working with other parties.
“That willingness to work collaboratively cross-party and recognising that no one party has a monopoly on good ideas is really woven into the Green Party’s DNA.”
Results across Bristol are expected to filter in throughout the afternoon, with a full council declaration expected at around 18:30.
The council is in charge of social care, maintaining roads and pavements, and running the library service, amongst other things.
Some key issues for voters have been the Clean Air Zone (CAZ), SEND funding, and the national politics of the party.
The race for control of the council is between Labour, who have been in charge since Marvin Rees was elected mayor in 2016, and the Green Party.
Pre-election, there were 24 Green councillors, with Labour having 23. With there being 70 seats in the council, unless one party wins an outright majority (36+), political groups will have to collaborate.
Claire Moody has been elected as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Avon and Somerset Police.
The Labour candidate beat Conservative incumbent Mark Shelford by around 4,000 votes. The turnout was 23.09%.
BREAKING: We have a new Police & Crime Commissioner for Avon & Somerset Police..
— BBC Bristol (@BBCBristol) May 3, 2024
Follow the local election & PCC results here ➡️ https://t.co/sh1VgZsMcL pic.twitter.com/5jslWpal3p
The PCC sets the police budget, appoints the chief constable, and decides how much of Bristolians’ council tax goes towards policing.
The election has been dominated by discussions around knife crime, with four people losing their lives so far this year.
In 2023, Avon & Somerset saw almost 1,400 knife crimes: a 14% rise in one year.
— Clare Moody (@ClareMoody4PCC) April 30, 2024
We must invest in communities and restore neighbourhood policing, but instead the Tory police commissioner is cutting police numbers again.
This Thursday, 2nd May, is our chance to vote for change. pic.twitter.com/FNKgnCtbe2
The new council will switch to a committee system of governance, with the mayoral system that has been in place since 2012 having been voted out in a referendum in 2022.
This committee model is about “dispersing power, said Dr Thom Oliver, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of the West of England.
Instead of decisions being made by the mayor and his cabinet, different committees will construct policies. Seats on the committees will be allocated on a proportional basis, reflecting the council’s political makeup.
Dr Oliver explained that details about how the council will operate with a committee system will be revealed soon: “When the dust settles tomorrow morning [and] as we go into next week, the actual real rules will have to emerge about how they’re going to make it work.
“I think the political parties have been keeping their powder dry around what they would do until they know the results.”
