The Mayor
In February 2002, the Council held a referendum to enable voters in the Borough to decide whether or not they wished to have an elected Mayor. The majority of those who voted were in favour of this and the Borough’s first directly elected Mayor, Frank Branston, was elected on 17 October 2002 to serve for a period of four and a half years. Bedford is one of only 12 Councils in the Country to have an elected Mayor. Unlike the more traditional ceremonial Mayors, elected Mayors have wide decision making powers and, together with the Executive, the Mayor provides the political leadership for the Council as well as being the Borough’s first citizen. By clicking on the word Mayor you can find out more about Frank and how to contact him.