Mayor of Bedford | |
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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.
The first known reference to a Mayor of Bedford is in 1264.
Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, the Mayor of Bedford came into office on 29th September. The first Mayor of the reformed Corporation came into office on 1st January, 1836, and subsequent Mayors on 9th 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.
Source: Bedford Council
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%.[9]
Choice | Votes | % |
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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/turnout | 108,817 | 15.54 |
Source: Bedford Borough Council[10] |
The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 saw independent Frank Branston elected as mayor.[11]
Bedford Mayoral Election 17 October 2002 [12][13] | |||||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | |||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | |||||
Better Bedford Party | Frank Branston | 9,557 | 2,521 | 12,078 |
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Liberal Democrats | Christine McHugh | 4,711 | 2,253 | 6,964 |
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Conservative | Charles Rose | 4,661 |
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Labour | Apu Bagchi | 4,114 |
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Independent | Ian Clifton | 1,893 |
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Independent | Arthur Foster | 1,826 |
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Green | Mark Powell | 735 |
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Independent | Gurminder Dosanjh | 218 |
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Better Bedford Party win |
In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.
Bedford Mayoral Election 3 May 2007 [14] | ||||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Better Bedford Party | Frank Branston | 15,966 | 3,732 | 19,698 |
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Conservative | Charles Rose | 10,710 | 2,603 | 13,313 |
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Liberal Democrats | Christine McHugh | 10,533 |
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Labour | Rondolph Charles | 4,758 |
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Green | Justina McLennan | 1,538 |
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Better Bedford Party hold |
A bye-election took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previous incumbent, Frank Branston in August 2009.[15] The bye-election was won by the Liberal Democrat, Dave Hodgson.[15]
Bedford Mayoral Bye-Election 15 October 2009 [16] | ||||||||
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Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 9,428 | 4,127 | 13,555 |
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Conservative | Parvez Akhtar | 9,105 | 2,438 | 11,543 |
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Independent | Apu Bagchi | 7,631 |
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Independent | Tony Hare | 4,316 |
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Labour | James Valentine | 3,482 |
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Green | Eve Morley | 1,183 |
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Liberal Democrats gain from Better Bedford Party |
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 [17] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Dave Hodgson | 19,966 | 4,325 | 24,291 |
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Conservative | John Guthrie | 17,501 | 1,824 | 19,325 |
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Labour | Michelle Harris | 11,197 |
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Independent | Tony Hare | 3,133 |
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Green | Greg Paszynski | 1,211 |
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Liberal Democrats hold |
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Former |