Trinity Church,
Hotwells. 7pm. Monday 29 October 2012. Time for a mayoral election hustings.
Packed church. One woman has even nabbed the beanbag in the children’s play
area. A human-sized teddy bear sits next to another couple. It all feels a bit
the Thick of It here at the back of the room. 11 of the 15 candidates hoping to be
Bristol’s first elected mayor are at the front. Only one woman is standing for mayor.
Just one.
First the wannabee mayors are given one minute each to introduce themselves to the voters, and say what they
stand for. Unless, of course, they ignore the stopwatch alarm and have two minutes.
Political tricks are alive and kicking, it’s clear. Every question is, for the
most part, answered by every candidate, which is a time-consuming affair. What
will a mayor actually do? Should we worry that they’ve snaffled all our power,
or that in fact they’ll just be a ‘fig-leaf’ for power? It makes me wonder,
does Bristol really need its own Boris?
There are
personalities aplenty here. George Ferguson, independent/Bristol First: red trousers
(always worn), persuasive speaker, wants to make Bristol England’s second city;
Marvin Rees, Labour: smart-suited, clear-talking Bristol born former BBC
reporter and NHS manager; Neil Maggs, Respect: doesn’t need a microphone to be
heard; Dave Dobbs, Birthday Party (really): describes himself as: ‘political
activist, puppeteer and writer’. Puppets and politics seems like a telling
juxtaposition.
Earlier this year, only 24 per cent of
Bristolians turned out to vote on whether they wanted a mayor. Only 53.3 per cent of that 24 per cent voted for one. With those kinds of figures, it looks like Bristol's sleep-walking to its first mayor rather than being engaged with the changes going on. On 15 November,
I suppose we’ll find out just who really cares.
