Bedford Borough residents will not be heading to the polls to decide the future of the council’s leadership structure. In an extraordinary full council meeting held on Wednesday evening, councillors voted decisively against a motion that would have triggered a borough-wide referendum to scrap the directly elected mayoral system.
The motion was defeated by 24 votes to 16, with four abstentions. The result ensures that Bedford Borough will continue to operate under its current governance model, maintaining a system that has been in place since it was first approved by voters in a 2002 referendum. Had the motion passed, the council would have explored a transition to the leader-and-cabinet model, the structure currently employed by neighboring authorities such as Luton and Central Bedfordshire.
The proposal was brought forward by Cllr Abu Sultan (Labour/Cauldwell), who argued that constitutional arrangements require periodic review to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
“Good governance should be accountable, transparent, collaborative and responsive to the communities it serves,” Cllr Sultan said during the debate. “It’s good democratic practice to review constitutional and governance arrangements periodically to ensure they deliver the best possible outcomes for residents.”
Throughout the proceedings, members of the chamber were keen to emphasize that the motion was a debate on constitutional principle rather than a critique of any specific individual. Both proponents and opponents of the motion stressed that the decision was not a reflection on current Mayor Tom Wootton, nor any of his predecessors or political administrations.
However, the question of fiscal responsibility loomed large over the discussions. Council officers presented data on the potential financial impact of a referendum, noting that it could cost the taxpayer approximately £350,000. This estimate was extrapolated from the £12,366 cost of a single ward by-election held in 2023, scaled up to account for the borough’s 28 individual wards.
The debate highlighted a fundamental disagreement over how local democracy should be exercised. While proponents argued that the final say on governance should always rest with the public, critics of the motion suggested that the existing system provides a stable framework for leadership.
Bedford Borough has maintained the directly elected executive mayor model for over two decades. The system was most recently highlighted in May 2023, when Conservative candidate Tom Wootton secured victory over Liberal Democrat incumbent Dave Hodgson by a narrow margin of 145 votes.
With the motion rejected, the issue of changing the council’s leadership structure is now off the table for the immediate future. The council will continue its operations under the current mayoral arrangement, with no further plans for a public vote on the matter at this time.
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