News / Bristol Mayoral Elections 2021
The public’s chance to ask WECA mayoral candidates their questions
With just two weeks before Bristol votes for a regional mayor, Bristol24/7 and Watershed are giving you the chance to ask the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) mayoral candidates questions you want answered.
WECA was created in 2017 and covers Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset.
The WECA mayor, sometimes called the metro mayor, is the directly-elected head of the body. They have powers over a £30m annual budget from the government to fund transport management, strategic planning of land, housing and the adult education budget.
The current metro mayor is Conservative Tim Bowles, who is standing down at the end of his first term. The candidates vying for his position are Samuel Williams (Conservative), Dan Norris (Labour), Jerome Thomas (Green) and Stephen Williams (Lib Dem).
They will be answering questions posed by the public at an event hosted by Watershed and Bristol24/7 at 7pm on April 22 via YouTube.
The Conservative Samuel Williams was initially standing for Bristol mayor before eyeing the bigger prize of regional representative, Green Party candidate, Jerome Thomas, is currently a councillor for Clifton; while the Lib Dems’ Stephen Williams is also a former MP, who served Bristol West until 2015. Labour candidate Dan Norris is a former MP and was a Bristol councillor from 1989 to 1992.
“I am delighted that Bristol24/7 and Watershed are joining forces to host these hustings,” says Booth. “No topic will be off limits to candidates, who will have to be extremely well-prepared to answer questions from people across our city.”
Candidates will be asked a variety of questions by moderator Martin Booth and by audience members, with questions able to be submitted to [email protected] in advance.
Emails should have the subject line ‘WECA Hustings’ and include your name and which area of Bristol you live in. Questions can also be submitted live on the night via YouTube’s chat function.
Main photo: Berkeley Squares/Dan Norris/Samuel Williams/Jerome Thomas
Read more: Bristol24/7 to host mayoral hustings at end of April
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