News / Politics
Ferguson asks for public to fund re-election
Bristol mayor George Ferguson is turning to the electorate to help him raise funds for his campaign for a second term.
The mayor has set up a pitch on Bristol crowdfunding website Fundsurfer and is calling for donations from £10 to £1,000, which can be paid in Bristol Pounds.
Donors who give more than £100 will get signed merchandise from Bristol Beer Factory, a brewery which he helped found.
Other “rewards” for donations include campaign kits, limited edition prints by local artists, ‘red trousers’ T-shirts and invites to an exclusive drinks reception.
On a video uploaded to Fundsurfer, the mayor says voters will face a “stark choice” in May 2016 whether to keep him in power or return to “damaging” party politics.
He adds: “When I go around Bristol people may say to me ‘George I may not agree with everything you’re doing but I really like the fact that you are getting on and doing it’.”
He said the money would go towards “correcting the misinformation” coming from parties campaigning against him across Bristol.
“Every pound from the Fundsurfer campaign will go towards making sure people appreciate within Bristol what people understand is happening from outside,” he says.
He adds: “I give everything I can, both in time and money, but I do need more.”
The Fundsurfer campaign was running as prospective Labour candidate Marvin Reese – the man who Ferguson defeated at the last election – released his first campaign video.
He is up against Mark Bradshaw, Bedminster councillor and member of Ferguson’s cabinet, in a fight to be selected as Labour’s official candidate.
No other parties have declared their candidates yet.
Photo by Charlotte Chambers
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