Labour councillor Mark Bradshaw apologises for not taking up role
A LABOUR councillor has written to Bristol mayor George Ferguson expressing his regret at not being able to join his cabinet.
Mark Bradshaw was offered one of three Labour cabinet seats to take charge of transport.
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Mark Bradshaw
In his letter he said: "Unfortunately, in light of the NEC ruling, it is now not possible for me to join your cabinet as a Labour councillor. I regret that the party has reached this conclusion but I reluctantly accept it. Therefore I have decided, with a heavy heart, to decline your offer.
"I was elected as a Labour councillor and, as such, willingly agreed to abide by the rules of the party, which include the need for national consent before entering into shared or 'rainbow' administrations. Perhaps such rules now need to be re-examined but that's not one for me.
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"I appreciate the many messages, including from my Bedminster constituents, asking me and Labour to join the cabinet. I consider my constituents to be an accurate barometer of the growing mood towards greater cross-party working and away from what some call 'tribalism'. I view their judgement to be the more representative of the current situation in Bristol and so I am sorry that this will be one of the very few occasions in six years as councillor that I will not be following their advice. For a community-based councillor, this is not something you do lightly."
Comments
by KBillies
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 10:49PM
“Mark Bradshaw is smooth, sophisticated and dapper.
Even his opponents would accept that.
Such an able man has much to contribute.”
by DM_Fishponds
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 9:57PM
“Labour is in a lot of trouble in Bristol at the moment . . .
BUT . . . the Lib/Dem, KBillies seems to be enjoying it a little too much!
Perhaps he is happy that Labour appears to be disliked even more than the Lib/Dems at the moment.”
by BorisLot
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 8:40PM
“Great shame that Mark feels compelled to kow-tow to Labour NEC. George was obviously keen to have him take 'Transport' in his cabinet.
The local Labour membership were not widely consulted, despite what is stated by Mr Lewis. This shows who is pulling the strings. Either the Labour party have no idea what is happening politically in Bristol or they do not want to be involved in recovering the alleged £32 million deficit in the council budget. Good job George is prepared to take the resposibility (and the knocks).”
by KBillies
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 7:19PM
“Sorry I meant Darren Lewis.
Fall on your sword if you have any integrity my friend.”
by KBillies
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 7:18PM
“The population of Bristol will despise Labour for this and rightly so.
Is barren Lewis going to take any responsibility and quit?”
by J12345678
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 2:20PM
“Does this mean if Marvin had won then his cabinet would have been stuffed full of London Labour approved people? This would have totally disrespected the swing against party politics in Bristol. What's Marvin doing now after his ungenerous concession speech?”
by DownByLaw
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 1:16PM
“I said previously here that although I voted for Marvin Rees I hoped that Labour would work with the Mayor for the sake of Bristol. I now feel totally let down by the actions of Labour and won't be voting for them again unless they agree to represent the city first above party politics. People in this city vote for local representatives and not some faceless suits on the NEC in London.”
by macadam212
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 12:50PM
“As much as I appreciate the apology and the position you are in, it's just not good enough. Fair enough one person can't change things, but if the whole of Bristol labour acted in defiance of the NEC it would send a strong message that the Labour NEC is out of touch with the people of Bristol. You have one chance to put things right so I suggest you all take it or face the consequences at the next election.”
by TonyJ
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 12:31PM
“Proof positive that political die-hards still think elections are about taking control. Still willing to re-inflict the see-saw politics that have damaged Bristol - and elsewhere - so badly in the past.
We have a coalition government because most of us do not want this - surely both main parties have worked this out by now.
Good on you George - you have my support as you try to move forward by concensus.
Shame on you Mark your job is to educate - or replace - those who think Bristol should be a battle ground for point scoring.”
by GoveKnows
Tuesday, November 27 2012, 11:17AM
“It's been mentioned several times over the past week already but...thank **** Rees didn't get voted in.”