The possibility of Bristolians being offered a chance to change the way the city is governed, by reversing the decision to use the elected mayor model, has been welcomed in the House of Commons.
Speaking in a debate on the Cities and Devolution Bill (14 October, 2015) Bristol South MP Karin Smyth pointed out that Bristol is the only core city that supported an elected mayor, when it voted to adopt the system in a referendum in the spring of 2012.
But she said “Citizens of Bristol deserve the right to reverse that decision at any point, and the amendments that have come into this Bill from the House of Lords offering Bristolians that opportunity are to be welcomed.”
The amendment was passed when the Bill was at its House of Lords stage earlier in 2015, supported by former Lib Dem council leader Barbara (now Baroness) Janke.
The Cities and Devolution Bill was scheduled to move to its Committee Stage, for debate in the chamber of the House of Commons, on Wednesday, 21 October.