The Mayor with Red Trousers

Think local, boycott Tesco. I had a meeting with one of the senior guys

at Tesco last week, who came in smiling. He left not smiling, cos I

challenged him on so many different things! A bit Sheelanagig, one of my

favourite local bands. They sometimes play here at the Tobacco

Factory and they are really spirited. I listen to reason, I

don't listen to rant. Listen, Mr Ferguson, no, no, no! I'm not

anti`car, I'm just pro`people. You've insulted and patronise

people. Rubbish. I want to listen to the quiet voices. I think your dress

and your red trousers are now beyond a joke and you are degrading

Bristol. Right, 50 shades of red! I was at a

dinner last night. There is my dinner jacket and trousers. I've

even got my own tartan, Ferguson Red, because I was prevented from

wearing red trousers in a formal dinner so I thought, I'll just get

tartan trousers and then they can't deny me. I've even got claret ones

for funerals. I'm George Ferguson. I'm an

architect ` that's what defines me more than anything else. McGreal

yes, sir, can I help you, George? I'll have 12 for ?2. I was the first

high Sheriff of restored. That is dressing up in black tights. I did

it for the tights. `` Sheriff of Bristol. Now I'm the Mayor of

Bristol. I don't think I was all that difficult as a child. Actually,

at my secondary school, I once joined the gas mains to the water

main so that when people turned on their Bunsen burners, water came

out! I was a bit rebellious. I didn't used to push things to the

limit. I don't know why. This, I hope, is the beginning of

some real change. I think the decision to stand for mayor was a

slightly hunkers one `` bonkers one in terms of what was likely to

happen. But change is about having a completely different attitude to the

governance of Bristol ` one that doesn't look to the parties and what

they want but looks to the electorate and want you want. The

big established parties had all the advantage. They had the electron

knowledge, the helpers, funds. I had none of that. So it was barmy in a

way but I do believe in the practice of the impossible.

When I arrived, I was surrounded by cameras and TV and what have you.

Labour Party, 31,259. There was the expectation they would

win. I just realised that I was probably going to do it. George

Ferguson, 37,053. Suddenly I find myself in a new world. I therefore

give notice that George Ferguson is duly elected as mayor of the city

and County of Bristol. I'm not going to wind them up. I

share their anger. We're in extreme times. He has come in to be. He has

come into being there at an unprecedented time in terms of the

shrinking of council budgets and the rethinking of the way and what they

do. I suppose the biggest political occasion for me is the budget, in

that it such a crucial thing and it's crucial to the city that we get

the budget through. If we don't get it through, a budget will be imposed

on us from Westminster that will really hurt. We'd better go down and

face the music. I'm Zoe Sear and by grants title is Mayoral Initiatives

and Partnerships. I was the person that the elected mayor chose to

bring in with him. The rules were that he could bring in one person

and that was me. Traditionally the role would be classed as a political

adviser. George didn't actually want a political adviser, just a regular

human being. So there's a lot around translating what the mayor would

like to happen into language that is understood why the 8000 people that

work in the City Council and vice versa. I'm well at the moment. I'd

like to formally oppose my first budget as Bristol's first elected

mayor. It's been a tough job finding the 35 million to balance this

budget, while doing our very best to maintain essential services. I have

to balance what I passionately believe in with what is possible

with what is practical and what is deliverable. As an independent, it

is quite a lonely role in a way but I don't shed a tear about that. If I

was a mayor from one of the parties, with a large group on the City

Council, it would make it much easier for me. For instance, as an

independent I have to negotiate the budget through four parties. I don't

feel able to support these measures, the impact they'll have on residents

in my ward, and I think many of the savings are illusory. To face 3

money on pounds worth of cuts is just unthinkable. And Paea cuts too

far. As Labour councillors, we cannot accept that the government

should be visiting this huge level of cut is and so we will be

abstaining from the budget. Please cast your vote urgently. I declare

the budget as amended for 2012` 3 passed. Good, done it. We're in the

clear. I have to say that I think I have more friends than throw on the

council. It could have been a lot more contentious. `` more friends

than enemies. That is a relief. Got that over with! There's a lot of

work to do, though. We're in the Brunel Buttery on the

south side of the old city docks. All life is here and it's a very

democratic spot. There's nothing pretentious about it. You can sit

here and see so much of Bristol and so much of my personal history, as

well. I arrived in Bristol in 1 65. In 1966I bought a little house in

Clifton Wood for ?900. It seems so ridiculously cheap but they were

going to demolish that hillside so I started a campaign to keep the

hillside. So immediately I got very involved with the city. In the

1970s, I got involved with a gang of people who decided that we should

buy the cranes back off the scrap merchant that the city had sold them

to. So we saved the cranes and with the proceeds of selling the cranes

back to the city, which it embarrassed them to do, we bought

the first yellow ferry. If you can make a difference to people slides,

it makes your own life so much more worthwhile and there is nothing much

more worthwhile than being a mayor of the city that you love. We've got

a non`agenda so let's get going as quickly as possible. I think George

has handled remarkably well coming into what is an alien environment.

If you think of him as a successful businessman who was always dealt

with business people, for him to come into what is a very staid,

process lead, slow`moving organisation, I think it was always

going to be a charge. Anything else in the remaining two minutes? George

gets frustrated that the lack of ability to do things very quickly.

We get six or seven ideas a day You have to follow his Twitter to find

out what he is thinking. Right, Jason, the bid... It is a real

culture shock for the establishment of the Council to submit have this

tornado come in and say, I'm only here for an hour so we've got to get

it sorted quickly. It's something which has been quite interesting to

watch. I've given you four minutes and I did make it clear that it was

three minutes. You didn't turn up for this group meeting. I'm sorry,

Councillor Hopkins. It's the first time I've been aware that I was

expected at that Friday meeting Councillors feel they are now rather

second`class. I think he's sad about that that that is inevitable when

you concentrate power in one person. I have a job to do running this city

and people should know that. Sit down now. Just a few more points.

No. Do you wish to hear them? And sure I will hear them later. Thank

you very much. OK. I'm from the best ward in Bristol. OK, I'm not going

to argue with that. As the mayor holds all the power, it's quite

important he does get around the city. Get in there and look at wards

with councils ` it's important and it does give us a chance to get

George to connect with residents. Al come and sit at the end. Agencies

like ours are so disadvantaged now. We've lost 46% of our organisation.

We've got a greater need for our local voluntary agencies and you are

taking it away. You know the bigger picture ` we had to save 34 million

out of this year's budget. We've properly got to save 60 or 70

million out of the following two years so some things are going to

give. We can't escape that. What we've got to look at, therefore is

how we most intelligently use that money to minimise the impact on

actual services on the ground. I think the voluntary sector and the

local voluntary sector, and the small organisations, actually are

part of the answer, not the problem. Pressure on people's lives is very

real. You have to start thinking about what kind of services Bristol

City Council is going to prioritise. And for me, especially representing

my ward, the big one is still a tale of two cities, because there are

people for whom... They feel as if they don't belong to the Bristol

that they hear George talking about. So, Bristol applied to be European

Green Capital 2015 and there is a 2`stage process. You make a

technical application on a range of different subjects and the short

list is created. Now we are in the frame for European Green Capital,

we've got the final pitch and I feel very responsible because a lot hangs

on it. We really thought we ought to win it because we're going into the

final in first place after the technical stage. There is that

moment when you suddenly realise, this is it. It's a real pressure. It

is our to lose. We're going to try and do a full run through. Our first

run through, if we're all honest, was a bit of a road crash. People

think that there is... That European capital... George just haven't had

time to think about what it was he really wanted to say. You learn the

most in your first practice. So the plan is to try and make a complete

run through, as per usual. It kicks off with Graham. Graham kicks off.

So I'll be Graham? The film first, then Graham? No, Graham then the

film. Almeida slides, then. I stood to Micro I stood for election as

mayor of wrist all... Sorry, this is not prepared, as you can tell, but I

will be absolutely on the button. The rehearsal was rough today. You

need to be active listening, a lot higher energy. I work well under

pressure. The pressure on the day is when people really perform. I'm

always getting goose bumps from thinking about it because this team

effort, that have been together for months, have practised, had

arguments and, OK, we're here now. This is it. Real pressure to bring

it home for Bristol. I'm entrusting him in your care. Rehearsals have

gone pretty well but they've not been perfect so I'm hopeful that

it's perfect on the day and I think that's the right way round.

Sometimes you can have perfect rehearsals and it all goes belly`up

on the day. Commissioners, presidents, mayors,

mes amis verts. It's good to be here. I think the biggest strength

we have in Bristol is a sense of fun, and I think it's vitally

important that if we are to communicate with the citizens of

Bristol, that we do so in a way that Nantes are doing.

So when I get back to Bristol, we will be having Big Green Week, a

week of environmental fun and engagement and at the end of Big

Green Week I'm starting a new initiative ` Make Sundays Special,

and we try out new things and closing streets and to me it's

really important. So, thank you for giving us this opportunity and I

look forward to the result with a certain amount of apprehension, as

all of you do. Thank you. The Award of the European Green

Capital 2015 goes to the city with the sense of fun, Bristol. Ah, phew!

Three, two, one. Les sourires sil vous plait, voila, merci beaucoup.

How come you're not wearing red trousers? Because I said if we won

the European Green Capital for 015, I'd wear green trousers for Big

Green Week. Lovely day for it. Bristol has a very small Mayor!

It's exactly what I wanted to happen, things like cricket and

tennis and basketball in the street. I mean, what I'm really impressed by

is the way I've just said these things to council officers and

they've happened, brilliant. That's exactly how it should be, you know.

Stand up, girls, this is the mayor of Bristol. We can draw something.

There's a real contradiction in terms of Bristol being the European

Green Capital 2015 and yet we are one of the most congested cities in

the UK and the two don't sit very comfortably.

I was asked what was a principle theme for European Green Capital and

I think it is dealing with the level of air quality across the city. But

to tackle that I have to deal with the question of congestion. NEWS:

Bumper to bumper: 50,000 vehicles come into the city during rush hour

alone. But now 18 areas close to the city centre could become

residents`only during the day. There are parts of Bristol that have been

crying out for residents' parking, and in fact previous administrations

have looked at it several times over. But I think there was a

general recognition that politically it wasn't going to be that popular

rolling it out across the city. So I think, to George's credit, his

vision and certainly his learning, having talked to other cities, you

know, because it would be ludicrous to think he'd just woken up one day

and said, hey, look, do you know what guys? Just for the chuff of it,

let's roll out residents' parking, because everyone's going to love

that. In your election manifesto you said that you'd seek to devolve

power to local communities. You seem to have disempowered local

communities by imposing a one`size`fits`all residents'

parking. I think you misrepresent me, with due respect. I've said that

I want this to be tailored to local needs. If you are within the scheme,

I can't leave a hole in it. I can't leave a hole in a residents' parking

scheme because that will just be exploited and I can tell you that's

what happens. When people feel things are being foisted onto them,

particularly when they've been foisted unexpectedly, their instant

reaction is, well, hang on a minute, what does this mean to me? I'm not

going to be able to park my car outside or it's going cost me X

much. 98% of the residents polled are not in favour of your tax. It's

a road tax, it's parking tax, it's a road tax. The traders have told you

that should you pursue this tax a lot of them will go out of business.

Now it seems to me, George, it's not about what they want, it's about

what you want. I wouldn't be doing this if I thought that would be the

result. The result in most cases has been exactly the opposite, in that

instead of streets being clogged with cars that are parked all day,

you get much greater turnover and therefore more customers. You're not

talking to the population. You're saying, tell us your problems and

we'll give you solutions. You're not planning to ask. No, no, no! But

there's no real engagement, engagement that you promised when

you got elected. Of course there is. Why am I here? We are completely

open and, by the way, this is.. I've heard the question, can we not

repeat it? I listened to you, I expect you to listen as well. It was

blindingly obvious very, very quickly that the residents' parking

rationale and argument had not been shared with the city. I don't feel

we talked to citizens enough around encouraging people to use different

modes of transport and we can't roll out quickly enough improvements that

mean it's feasible for people to get out of their cars as quickly as

George might like. Come and listen to the public, Mr Ferguson. No, no,

no! NEWS: The mayor of Bristol has suffered an embarrassing defeat

tonight after councillors voted 49`2 to stop his residents' parking

scheme being introduced in its current form. Mayor Ferguson was

criticised for failing to consult properly. He managed to put the

backs up of nearly everybody in the council chamber, including people

like myself, who in the past have promoted residents' parking schemes,

by not really listening to the detail of what people were raising.

There was a great deal of public disquiet and councillor disquiet

about the proposals as they were originally drafted. I think George

sometimes sees councillors as a nuisance, trying to get in the way.

We understand he now holds the executive power. I think what we

want to see is that he understands that we hold a mandate from our

residents, that it's our job to represent them here and put their

viewpoint. Even if that is on occasion a viewpoint he doesn't want

to hear. What the councillors like to project me as is intransigent,

just telling people what to do, and I'm not like that at all. The

objectors are the loudest. I don't in any way underestimate the power

of all that, but I suppose I underestimated the councillors all

rounding against it and against me. And in a way the job becomes real

when you get objection on that level. Take the papers home and see

what they were saying about yesterday and the day before,

because I haven't had time to read them. Over the weekend I thought, I

have kicked up a bit of a hornets' nest, going for the total residents'

parking zone as one shot. One of the original proposals was 18 zones I

listened and I've adjusted it to ten of those zones. We've considered

what are major revisions to the programme. I will ask cabinet

members if they would like to add any comments, I'm sure that some

would. My position would have been such that I could not have supported

the original proposals as they were then tabled. What is now put

forward, I would think, is a really positive sign. We ultimately ended

up with a proposal that still brings about much of what George wanted to

happen but brings it about at a slower pace and seems to be a better

outcome for all concerned. I will end up with a really nice thing that

somebody said to me. The noble art of losing face will one day save the

human race, and I genuinely thank you all for the contribution you've

made. I mean, that was really good, moving

from uniting the council against me, to uniting the cabinet with me.

That's... I think that's a pretty good result.

In a way I think the year has gone both slowly and quickly. There's

been a tremendous amount of change and I think achievement, and yet I

find myself a year on, um, still learning. It's difficult for one

mayor in one city to change the culture of local government. Power

is still very, very concentrated in Westminster. And the jury's out on

whether the government will live up to its pledge that those cities that

opt for mayors will have more access to more funding. But I still think

that he has the right to go up to Westminster and argue his case for

special treatment. Mr Mayor, I'd like to present you

with a flower. That's really very kind. Enjoy your day Much

appreciated. No problem. Mr Mayor? Yes? First of all, I voted for an

independent mayor because I don t believe in party politics in local

government. But I have to say that I think your dress and your red

trousers are now beyond a joke and you're degrading Bristol. That's

just an opinion. That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. But I

don't think I will take that seriously. And if you want another

suited councillor then vote for one next time. But I'm afraid you get

what you get with me. Getting sit`down meetings with the

Prime Minister and Secretaries of State are not daily occurrences

What I want to come out of this meeting is a much greater

realisation that if they give greater trust to the cities and the

city leadership, to give us more responsibility, to stop treating us

like children with hand`outs, that's not the way to run a city. I've

never liked authority, which may seem strange from a person who's in

authority. So there's a little bit of anarchist in me, with a small A.

And wearing red trousers, I think it's my little rebellion against

authority. I don't want to be told what I should wear. It was an

extremely good meeting. I think we found lots of common interests. They

realised the challenges I've got and that there's an awful lot more I'd

like to be able to borrow and all that sort of thing. But I think the

principle thing is that we have I think, impressed them with what s

been happening in Bristol and I think they'd quite like to be able

to share some of the benefit of that.

We've got some kids in trees. I ve always said that if you can make a

city that's good for children, you'll make it good for us all.

Morning! Morning, all. I think children planting trees

brings together all those things I believe in.

What are all your names? Tell me your names.

And the idea of planting a tree that actually won't be mature until after

your lifetime is I think a special gift.

Children across the city will be planting more than 30,000 trees in

three years ` that's the aim. When you get made mayor, no`one gives you

a book and says, here's the book on how to be best mayor. George does

upset people and I think his style is different to your average

politician and I think, if he thinks someone is talking nonsense, he ll

tell them, in a slightly colourful way. You know you can't be

anti`politics the whole time if you are yourself a politician. And he is

a politician. This is much more fun than a council meeting, it's

amazing! I'm not saying George is perfect. He is impatient, he can be

deeply frustrating. However, in terms of what this city needs, in

terms of passion and commitment and energy and drive, and real vision,

he's got that in bucket`loads. Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your

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