FORMER Bristol city councillor Steve Smith has been named as the Conservatives’ candidate to be the next West of England metro mayor.
The former lord mayor, who represented Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze ward from 2018 to May 2024 when all three Tory incumbents in the ward were replaced by the Lib Dems at the local elections, was the first official nominee to be announced for the election next May.
The Greens’ candidate will be Bristol City Council deputy leader Cllr Heather Mack.
Labour members were due to decide late last month between a shortlist of three former cabinet members who served in ex-mayor Marvin Rees’s executive – ex-councillors Nicola Beech and Helen Godwin, and current opposition group leader Cllr Tom Renhard.
The Lib Dem candidate for the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) mayor is thought likely to be from Bath & North East Somerset.
Mr Smith was officially named as the Conservatives’ contender following a meeting of party members on November 9.
During his time as a councillor he sat on the Weca scrutiny committee, chaired the city council’s health overview and scrutiny committee and was lord mayor of Bristol in 2021-22.
He has pledged to bring “grown-up leadership back to the combined authority” and boost economic growth across the region.
Mr Smith said he would “undo the damage” to Weca’s reputation under the leadership of Labour metro mayor Dan Norris, who will not be standing next year because he was elected as MP for North East Somerset & Hanham at July’s general election, and new Labour rules ban second jobs in elected office.
Following his nomination, Mr Smith said: “Our region has huge potential to lead in areas such as innovation, green technology and sustainable growth, but we need strong leadership to unlock that potential for everyone in our community. I am committed to working tirelessly to create a West of England that works for everybody.”
Mr Smith lives in Westbury-on-Trym with his family and works as a self-employed business consultant helping small firms to win government contracts.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service