Marvin Rees

In 2012, selected by an individual ballot of Labour Party members in the city, Rees defeated four other candidates including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour group in Bristol and a former Member of Parliament.[3] He received 25,906 votes, coming second, after George Ferguson. Rees found it difficult readjusting to normal life following his election loss.[13]

On 5 May 2016, Rees was elected Mayor of Bristol. He received 56,729 votes in the first round and 12,021 transfer votes in the second round, meaning that he received 68,750 votes overall.[14][15] He is often referred to as the first black mayor in the UK. [16] Dr Allan Glaisyer Minns and John Archer were both elected black mayors in the UK in the 20th century. Rees is the first directly elected (by constituents) black mayor in the UK, and although he is not the first directly elected black mayor in Europe, as Peter Bossman has been mayor of the Slovenian city of Piran (population 3,700) since 2010, he is the first directly elected mayor of African descent of a major European city. Bristol is one of the UK's core cities, with a population of 463,400.

Rees's term of office started with an inherited £30 million budget shortfall from the previous administration and a £60 million budget deficit from government funding reductions to 2020, and in August 2016 Rees instigated a voluntary severance programme aimed at reducing, by 1,000, the council's 6,970 employees.[17]

Rees's mayoralty included a major house building programme, with over 9,000 homes built during his term of office. Under his leadership, the city increased the percentage of affordable homes as well as embarking on the first major development of council houses. Rees oversaw the founding of a city owned housing company, Goram Homes, created to develop and build homes, re-investing profits to the development of affordable and social housing [18].

One area of controversy was Rees's decision in September 2018 not to build the long awaited Bristol Arena by Temple Meads Station, in the centre of Bristol.[19] The episode brought discussion about the authority of a city mayor to make autonomous decisions in the face of strong opposition, and concerns were raised at how businesses are able to influence those with decision making and planning powers in cities. [20] The primary reasons Rees gave for the decision were build cost, future financial risk and job creation. The build cost for the council, that would have to be borrowed, had increased to £150 million plus half of any cost overruns. Costs arising should the arena not be successful would be to the council, and expert advice was that the venue size was too small for major events. Rees also argued a mixed use development would create more and better paid jobs.[21]

In September 2017, Rees was placed at Number 78 in "The 100 Most Influential People on the Left" by commentator Iain Dale.[22]

The empty pedestal of the statue of Edward Colston, showing placards and graffiti left after the statue's removal

In March 2019, Mayor Rees vetoed the installation of a second plaque to the statue of the Bristol-born merchant Edward Colston as he rejected the proposed wording as failing to adequately describe Colston's role in the slave trade and history of Bristol.[23]

In the 2020 Powerlist, Rees was listed in the Top 100 of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent.[24]

In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, in police custody, global Black Lives Matter protests were held around the world. In Bristol, protestors forcibly removed the statue of Edward Colston and dropped it into the harbour.[25] The statue was recovered from the harbour by Bristol City Council,[26] and Rees announced it would end up in a Bristol museum, where the full history of the statue could be told.[27]

The events placed Bristol in the forefront of global news, including the major news channels in the UK and US. Rees announced a new commission on Bristol's history, so that there could be a wider understanding of the city's history, including struggles on class, race and gender.[28]

Rees was due to be subject to re-election in May 2020 but the election was delayed for 12 months, due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The mayoral election is due to take place in May 2021.

In 2018 a documentary film was released with a premiere at Watershed, Bristol, about Rees's journey into politics and his two campaigns for the city's top political job. The Mayor's Race was filmed between 2011 and 2017, covering Rees's two mayoral campaigns in 2012 and 2016 as well as Bristol's historical issues of race and racism—including the 1963 bus boycott, the 1980 St. Pauls riot, and transatlantic slavery.[32]