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Newly-elected mayor George Ferguson has urged all parties at the city council to join him in “dumping some of their baggage” and embrace the new politics in Bristol.
In a 40-minute presidential-style speech to about 400 people gathered at the famous Passenger Shed at Temple Meads yesterday afternoon, Mr Ferguson called on the city to be inspired by the genius of Brunel to overcome the difficulties it faced.
He said he had already spoken the four party leaders at the council and praised them for their cooperative spirit, adding that “I know that what divides us is minor to our devotion to this city”.
“There are 70 councillors on the city council and I want to join with you in making this a better city,” he said.
“I have no doubt that you have the best interests of the city at heart. We are all faced with a new way of working and I want you to embrace that.
“I have spoken to all the party leaders and all are very cooperative in discussions about a rainbow cabinet. It requires diplomacy and requires us all to ditch some of our baggage.”
His call came after it emerged at the weekend that Labour chair Darren Lewis said the party’s councillors should not accept a position in the mayor’s ‘rainbow cabinet’ and instead focus on providing “constructive opposition”.
Mr Ferguson, still dressed in red trousers despite his new high office, announced two new policies he had implemented this morning. As expected, the Council House has been renamed City Hall, and drew cheers as it emerged he had scrapped street parking charges in the city on Sundays from this weekend.
He said he made the decision as part of a way to make Sundays special in the city and suggested he would introduce traffic-free areas in the city centre on the first Sunday of each month.
Citing the example of twin city Bordeaux, and drawing big cheers from the audience, he said: “Let’s not spend money on reports and surveys, let’s just do it and see how it turns out.”
He spoke about the need to engage with the trade unions and neighbouring authorities, made a call to “remove discrimination from the agenda” and said he would inspire the voluntary sector to work with the council.
Meanwhile, he reaffirmed his praise for the controversial membership of the Merchant Venturers, thanking them for their “really important role for the money and time you put into education and services for young and old people – I have been proud to be a member”.
“I have no doubt we will have tough negotiations with the trades unions, but we will have them with mutual respect,” he said.
“To the neighbouring authorities, I say our interests are your interests and your interests are our interests, and we have to work together. We are one city region of two cities – Bath has the beauty and we have the brawn.
“To the business community, you make the city tick. You can’t talk about poverty and exclusion, and spreading the wealth of this rich city, unless we bring prosperity to the city.
“We should celebrate the diversity of this city – I am honoured all cultural communities are present and I thank you for making this a much better city than when I arrived in 1965.
“Let’s try and get discrimination completely off the agenda. There were one or two people who stopped me during the election and I told them I did not want their vote. Please find out more before you say such stupid things. Let’s educate the city of the benefits of our diversity and be intolerant of prejudice and judgment.”
He reserved praise for his fellow candidates during the election raise, with special mentions going to defeated Labour candidate Marvin Rees and Daniella Radice of the Green Party.
But his speech also contained a number of personal reflections. Mr Ferguson said he would experiment and would get things wrong sometimes, but he insisted he would put the people first. He did not rule out running for re-election in three and a half years, but said he would not act out of an attempt to be re-elected.
“The greatest pleasure in my life is doing things and making things happen – there is no greater pleasure in seeing the things we do work. I shall experiment and some things will go wrong, but there is nothing so satisfactory as achievement,” he said.
“I feel absolutely honoured that the people of Bristol have entrusted me this way. There will be times when I will wonder why I am doing this at times, but I do know that at the end I will know I tried and I tried for you in this ultimate project.”
Quoting American author William Arthur Ward, he added: “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails. I will be adjusting the sails of maritime Bristol every week.”
Pictured: Newly elected mayor George Ferguson with the Lord Mayor
