Marvin Rees is the new mayor of Bristol

He won with 12,021 second preference votes.


Labour candidate Marvin Rees has been elected the new mayor of Bristol.

The 43 year old defeated his nearest rival and previous mayor George Ferguson on a second ballot. The second ballot was triggered after no candidates could acquire a 50% majority.

Credit: Bristol Counterfire

Mr Rees won a clear victory with 12,000 preference votes over Ferguson’s 7000. Many have attributed Rees’s success to the high voter turnout  of 44.87%. A high voter turnout normally favours Labour candidates in Bristol.

This turnout was severely lacking in the 2012 election where only 27% of the Bristol public bothered to vote and Rees lost to Ferguson.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn came down to congratulate Rees.

Rees will be sworn in as mayor in a ceremony on Monday.