‘Our next mayor must champion Bristol and Bath with the Labour government’

While I’ve been a Labour voter at general elections all my life, I have always voted locally for the leader who I think will make the right decisions and, most of all, bring disparate constituencies of our region together.

Political leadership is dependent on the point in time and I have absolutely no doubt that now, in the West of England mayoral election taking place on May 1, Helen Godwin, Labour’s mayoral candidate, is the right person to bring the West of England back together, including North Somerset, and to navigate the difficult path in the national and global economy and pick up the pieces that we sadly have right now.

I have championed for many years the importance of sustainable and inclusive economic growth, but it is not easy making that work across the region. We have some great people in the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority right now who have delivered a lot, quietly, around skills, transport, nature and the economy despite having, as far as I can see, minimal leadership.

We need a mayor who can get that team delivering at scale – to create meaningful job opportunities for everyone in the region, transport that allows them to get to those jobs and housing that allows them to live safely, affordably and sustainably.

Local authorities have a big part to play in this, but cannot do it alone, nor can they operate across their boundaries. The West of England, including North Somerset, is a tight economic area and so needs a holistic vision and empathetic leadership based on values and the importance of engaging with people.

Having spoken with all of the candidates except the independent, and worked with two of them, I have seen only one candidate, Helen Godwin, who has the experience in business, in politics and in life – who also brings with her an almost pervasive commitment to do good, create better businesses and provide opportunities for more and more diverse young people, and help this beautiful city region fulfil its potential.

I initially made plans to stand as a mayoral candidate myself, but it became clear how tough a gig it really is across all the policy areas, the politics and the sheer effort involved, so I happily stood back for someone far more capable.

Six candidates are competing in the West of England mayoral election, from left to right: Arron Banks (Reform), Steve Smith (Conservative), Helen Godwin (Labour), Mary Page (Green), Oli Henman (Lib Dem) and Ian Scott (independent) – photo: WECA

I’ve been working in the Bristol business ecosystem for 40 years – almost all of that with technology businesses.

From start-ups to multinationals, a tech business I co-founded and IPO’d and, in recent years, supporting the development of a thriving and meaningful business environment in which young businesses are able to start, grow and flourish.

Throughout that time, I have worked with all four of our city and regional mayors and seen different strengths and weaknesses of them as a leader. What works and what doesn’t work always comes down to the person. The human.

A lot of people have been disappointed that we “don’t have an Andy Burnham” standing. We don’t, but we have the next best thing.

Andy was down last month to give support to Helen Godwin and committed to sharing the blueprints he used for positive change in education, transport and other areas, in Manchester.

That’s quite a head start that Helen will have when she – I very much hope – takes the reins in May.

This election is a five-horse race. With a low voter turnout expected, that means that every single vote counts – just a few hundred votes could potentially swing the result in any direction.

Please get out and vote, with your conscience but also an eye for who will truly be able to deliver positive change for the region and champion Bristol and Bath with the Labour government.

Tech entrepreneur Nick Sturge was weighing up whether to stand himself for WECA mayor- photo: Jon Craig

This is an opinion piece by Nick Sturge, who was co-founder of Motion Media and Engine Shed and is currently a non executive director to a number of tech businesses

Main photo: Martin Booth

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