Bedford Borough Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Until 1 April 2009 it was a non-metropolitan district. Since 2002 it has also had a directly elected mayor.
Bedford held a referendum on 21 February 2002 on whether to introduce a directly elected mayor after a petition was signed by at least 5% of the electorate. The move was approved with 11,316 voting in favour and 5,357 against on a turnout of 15.5%.[6] The first mayoral election on 17 October 2002 saw independent Frank Branston elected as mayor.[7]
In 2007 Frank Branston was re-elected as mayor.
| Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2007 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party | 1st Preference Votes | % | 2nd Preference Votes¹ | % | Final | %² | ||
| 15,966 | 3,732 | 19,698 | |||||||
| Nicky Attenborough | 10,710 | 2,603 | 13,313 | ||||||
| Christine McHugh | 10,553 | N/A | |||||||
| Randolph Charles | 4,758 | N/A | |||||||
| Justina McLennan | 1,538 | N/A | |||||||
²Percentage figures are not officially used on the final votes, they are produced here for illustration and are calculated by the candidates final vote divided by the total of final votes.
A by-election for Mayor of Bedford took place on 15 October 2009 after the death of the previous incumbent, Frank Branston in August 2009.[8] The election was won by the Liberal Democrat, Dave Hodgson.[8]
| Bedford Mayoral Election Results 2009[9] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party | 1st Preference Votes | % | 2nd Preference Votes | % | Final | % | ||
| 9,428 | 26.8 | 4,127 | 13,555 | 54.0 | |||||
| Parvez Akhtar | 9,105 | 25.9 | 2,438 | 11,543 | 46.0 | ||||
| Apu Bagchi | 7,631 | 21.7 | N/A | ||||||
| Tony Hare | 4,316 | 12.3 | N/A | ||||||
| James Valentine | 3,482 | 9.9 | N/A | ||||||
| Eve Morley | 1,183 | 3.4 | N/A | ||||||
The electorate of Bedford Borough voted by a margin of 51.8% to 48.2% (on a 72.1% turnout)[10] to leave the European Union during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (reflecting the national picture). The Kingsbrook ward voted most heavily in favour of Leave (60.71%), while the Queen's Park ward voted most strongly for Remain (57.66%). Other areas of Bedford to favour Remain were Bromham and Biddenham, Castle, De Parys, Harpur, Kempston Rural, Newnham, Oakley and Sharnbrook.[11]
| District | Votes | Proportion of votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remain | Leave | Remain | Leave | ||
| 2,000 | 2,092 | 48.88% | 51.12% | ||
| 2,138 | 1,996 | 51.72% | 48.28% | ||
| 1,835 | 1,366 | 57.33% | 42.67% | ||
| 1,322 | 1,880 | 41.29% | 58.71% | ||
| 1,256 | 1,731 | 42.05% | 57.95% | ||
| 1,683 | 1,302 | 56.38% | 43.62% | ||
| 1,111 | 1,322 | 45.66% | 54.34% | ||
| 1,406 | 1,677 | 45.60% | 54.40% | ||
| 1,575 | 2,062 | 43.30% | 56.70% | ||
| 1,987 | 2,282 | 46.54% | 53.46% | ||
| 1,837 | 1,398 | 56.79 | 43.21% | ||
| 1,295 | 1,316 | 49.60% | 50.40% | ||
| 1,664 | 2,080 | 44.44% | 55.56% | ||
| 1,153 | 1,406 | 45.06% | 54.94% | ||
| 2,066 | 1,889 | 52.24% | 47.76% | ||
| 1,170 | 1,624 | 41.88% | 58.12% | ||
| 1,433 | 1,747 | 45.06% | 54.94% | ||
| 1,374 | 2,123 | 39.29% | 60.71% | ||
| 1,962 | 1,634 | 54.56% | 45.44% | ||
| 1,269 | 1,158 | 52.29% | 47.71% | ||
| 1,818 | 2,028 | 47.27% | 52.73% | ||
| 1,573 | 1,155 | 57.66% | 42.34% | ||
| 1,173 | 1,282 | 47.78% | 52.22% | ||
| 1,425 | 1,200 | 54.29% | 45.71% | ||
| 1,300 | 1,661 | 43.90% | 56.10% | ||
| 1,649 | 1,891 | 46.58% | 53.42% | ||
| 1,023 | 1,268 | 44.65% | 55.35% | ||