Helping Bristol’s small firms, unclogging the roads, promoting the city and building new sports stadia were among the issues tackled by the elected mayoral business hustings last night.
But with 14 of the 15 candidates on the podium, there were no political fireworks during the bonfire night event as answers were kept short and there were few chances for any of the would-be mayors to sparkle.
Master of ceremonies BBC Points West’s business correspondent Dave Harvey kept the two-hour question-and-answer session moving quickly along and there were brief outbreaks of polite applause from sections of the 300-plus audience for some candidates. The only muted jeers of the evening came when Labour’s Marvin Rees said, if elected, he would have a cabinet drawn solely from his own party – although he insisted that this would be just one part of the mayor’s office.
Other candidates – including Geoff Gollop (Conservative), Jon Rogers (LibDem), George Ferguson (Bristol 1st) and Daniella Radice (Green) – said they would form cross-party cabinets.
The hustings, staged by business support group Business West, the Institute of Directors and Bristol Junior Chamber and supported by Bristol Business News as media partner, is the only event taking place during the mayoral poll primarily focused on business. Voting takes place on Thursday November 15.
But the focus tended to shift to key election issues related to business such as transport, housing, the planned arena and – fittingly as the event was hosted by Bristol City at its Ashton Gate stadium – new sports stadia for both Bristol’s league football clubs.
There was a united front on many issues, despite the wide range of candidates – with First Group emerging as the common enemy for the way it runs Bristol’s buses.
Respect candidate Neil Maggs and Ms Radice pledged to take the buses into public ownership – with Mr Maggs insisting he would repaint them green and out the city coat of arms on the side.
All candidates said they would promote the city at a national and international level to attract new businesses and jobs, with Mr Ferguson saying he would sell Bristol as a city of “science, engineering and innovation”. “As RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) I sold architecture to the rest of the world,” he said.
Mr Rogers’ insistence that he would make Bristol a city that is “open for business” attracted the response from Dave Harvey that he had never come across a city that insisted it was closed to business.
Mr Rees said the city needed a “clear long-term vision – not just for five years or even 10 or 20 years but for 50 years” which would not only bring in business investment but create skills and improve transport, education and housing.
There was widespread agreement over key issues such as opposition to the proposed Severn Barrage (which only Independent Spud Murphy approved of, the others claiming it would damage Bristol’s economy) and the need to improve Bristol’s traffic – although a plea from the floor for free children’s fare on the buses was mainly supported by the independent candidates with those from the main parties refusing to be drawn into making budget commitments. Mr Rogers fully opposed it – saying he would rather young people walked or cycled short distances.
The only issue to split the candidates was support for the Occupy movement – with a tweeted question asking which of them would back the protesters if they returned to College Green.
Mr Maggs said he would fully support them in their fight against the bankers – last time he took them mince pies at Christmas – and Ms Radice said she would “embrace them”. Maverick Independent Stoney Garnett, a retired postman, drew the only laugh of the evening when he said the protesters had turned College Green into “a shithole. I was ashamed to walk past it,” he said.
Taking part in the hustings were:
Tony Britt – Independent
Tim Collins – Independent
Dave Dobbs – The Birthday Party
George Ferguson – Bristol 1st
Rich Fisher – Independent
Stoney Garnett – Independent
Owain George – Independent
Geoff Gollop – Conservative
Neil Maggs – Respect
Spud Murphy – Independent
Philip Pover – Independent
Daniella Radice – Green
Marvin Rees – Labour
Jon Rogers – Liberal Democrat
