Bristolians will be heading to the polls next month.
Locals will be able to vote on Thursday, May 5, to decide whether to scrap the mayoral system after opposition councillors had a victory in City Hall in December 2021. A majority of elected members of Bristol City Council backed a motion to hold a legally-binding second referendum to decide how the council should be run from 2024 onwards.
The crunch vote will take place 10 years after the first referendum, which created the post of Mayor of Bristol in 2012. The referendum in May 2022 will offer Bristolians the choice of keeping an elected mayor or going back to the committee system of governance, which was in place prior to 2000.
Read more: Key dates for Bristol Mayoral referendum
The leader and cabinet system was in place between 2000 and 2012, before George Ferguson became the city’s first directly elected mayor in November 2012. Bristol was the only city that voted to adopt the position of elected mayor in the referendums held in May 2012 - which had been a national Conservative party election pledge two years earlier.
Councillors were previously required to vote in a leader for the authority, and this would invariably see the head of the political group with the greatest number of councillors take control. In comparison, the mayoral system allows Bristol residents to directly vote in the political leader of the authority, in much the same way as American citizens vote directly for a President.
Last May, Marvin Rees was re-elected Mayor of Bristol for a second term, but Mr Rees has said he would not be on the ballot paper in 2024.
Bristol Mayor Referendum 2022: The basics
When is polling day?
The referendum will take place on Thursday, May 5. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm.
How do I make sure I am eligible to vote?
The deadline to register to vote for this election is midnight, Thursday, April 14, 2022. To check eligibility and register, you can visit the government website here.
You only need to register once - not for every election. If you need to register - for example if you recently turned 18, changed your name or changed address - you’ll need your National Insurance number handy.
There is also an option for people to register anonymously, for example if you’re concerned about your safety. But there is a different process for this. Find out more here.
What about postal or proxy voting?
Once you are registered to vote, the council will send you a polling card in the post, which will confirm the local polling station where you can cast your ballot.
If you are unable to get to your local polling station on election day, you can apply for a postal vote or appoint someone to vote on your behalf, which is called a proxy vote.
The council said the deadline to apply for a postal vote or change an existing postal vote is 5pm, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm, Tuesday, April 26.
When will the count happen?
The count will happen overnight.
What do experts say?
In recent weeks, we have been reporting on experts' opinions ahead of the Mayoral Referendum in May. An expert said that the referendum could be the start of the conversation, rather than the end, while another one said the mayoral model has likely led to a "real change" in the diversity of councillors in the city.
Another said the mayoral model has a "direct democratic accountability" as one of its benefits, with another one explaining what council leadership was like in the city prior to the elected mayor model being introduced.
What do the city's parties say?
This story will be updated once we have had guidance from all parties on the position they are taking in the referendum. Last week, a campaign to scrap the role of Bristol Mayor was launched.
