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I must say sitting here on this throne and thinking about all those names carved in stone next door, previous mayors and Lord Mayors dates back to 1216. I do have a sense of imposter syndrome right now. But thank you very much to Joss for proposing me and for Tom.
I hope you all did. I will check the YouTube channel later. Thank you so much for all of your support. I am deeply honoured and what a privilege. Thank you very much. Before I continue I just want to say thank you to the outgoing Lord Mayor, Councillor Paul Goggin. Paul, I think it is fair to say you have had a pretty event for the great people who have been here.
Even for a year, Paul, as some of you may know, spent several months in hospital and I think a lot of people in this room thought he might not pull through, but luckily he did. And he ended his year on a real high on Saturday getting married to his partner and wife, Debbie, at the Lord Mayor's Chapel. And we were just in the chapel earlier and we heard that I think the first time the Lord Mayor has done that for about 300 years at least.
So can I be the first in this room on behalf of everyone here to say many congratulations to Paul and Deb and I hope you have a wonderful, happy, long life together. Thank you.
It is lovely looking out at the public gallery and basically recognising almost everyone over there. I have got people from all aspects of my life, so of course my family here, give a little way.
It is a very small family. We are not the Waltons, it is quite a small family, but I am delighted that my mum, so I am going to just clog now. I am really pleased that my mum is here today. She is 81 years old. She has not been enjoying the best of health recently.
But I am actually delighted to see you. I am very proud of her. Hopefully she is proud of me as well, but it is lovely to see you mum. Thank you so much for making it today. Thank you.
[Applause]
I also of course my long suffering partner Robbie is here today as well. We have known each other for 26 years, but I do not think he ever thought he would be signing up for something like this.
So I apologise in advance Robbie, but hopefully you will have a good year as well. You can enjoy yourselves and it is going to be a wonderful time. Thank you so much for being with me and staying with me. Thank you.
I am delighted to see friends in the public gallery as well, including my oldest friend whom I have known since we were both eight years old Marcus. Hello Marcus.
So that is, by my recognites like 20 years or so, we have known each other, something like that give or take. There might be some age related jokes as we go on.
And also next to, oh Ian is not there. Oh there is Ian. Okay, next to Marcus is Ian. I have known Ian almost as long as Marcus.
And actually several members might recognise Ian, especially on the Labour benches. Ian is the co-leader of South Gloucestershire Council.
So I am delighted you can make it here today and it just goes to show that people from different political parties can be friends.
I think acquaintances maybe. We tolerate each other. Barely. Okay.
Also I think Simon Shilton is here today. There we are. Simon is of course our Chief Fire Officer for Avon Fire and Rescue.
And next to Simon we've got Amanda Brown the clerk of Avon Fire Authority.
I was delighted and honoured to serve on the Avon Fire Authority for a couple of years. I stepped down to take on this role, but it was such a wonderful experience.
And if members are selected to go on to Avon Fire Authority, I think I have a wonderful time. They are a great team.
And I just want to say thank you to Simon and all of your team on behalf of everyone in Bristol for keeping our community safe.
So thank you so much Simon for everything you do. Thank you.
[Applause]
We've also got I think one or two colleagues from my previous employer, the English Language Centre in Bristol.
Thank you Penny. Great to see you. And probably most importantly we've got lots of my neighbours from Brisbane and West.
So Brisbane and West is my ward. And they're important because hopefully they voted for me and that means I'm here today.
So thank you so much for everyone from Brisbane and for coming on today as well.
So who is your new Lord Mayor? Well I'm going to give you a heavily edited, probably redacted, might be the right word.
And deeply sanitized version of my life to date. So I was born, believed to not in the 1960s, 1968 to be precise in Western Super Mayor.
Yes I'm not Bristolian I'm afraid but my father was from Bristol and his grandfather worked in our world famous aviation industry in Bristol.
So hopefully that's good enough. I left Western Super Mayor as soon as I possibly could. No offence to Western, it's a lovely place and I love going back.
But I went down to Plymouth to study geography. I've got to be diplomatic here.
I went down to Plymouth to study geography for three years and after that I decided I wanted to go travelling and ended up living and working in Hong Kong for some time.
I was teaching English as a foreign language in Hong Kong which is a wonderful experience and I decided that teaching was the career for me.
So I came back to Britain. Luckily enough I got enrolled onto a PGCE course at Oxford University of all places and really enjoyed that.
And then after that I still had to travel books. I ended up teaching in Japan for three years.
After still struggling with the language I'm afraid. After Japan came back to Britain, lived in London for a while doing supply teaching, that was quite challenging.
And then moved to Deepest Darkest Suffolk for a couple years where I met Robbie, lived in Dublin for ten years, also teaching English.
Not to Irish people, their English is probably better than the last, but teaching it's an international community there.
And then finally in 2008 Robbie and I came to Bristol and we've been here ever since and I've been working all that time at the English Language Centre.
Again teaching English as a foreign language. So all of my professional career has basically been sort of international.
I've either lived overseas, worked overseas or worked in international communities here in this country.
And I've always found that really rewarding and enjoyable. And it's also why I love living in Bristol so much.
Bristol is truly an international city. I've got some stats here. So there are 287 different ethnic groups who call Bristol their home.
185 different countries of birth of our citizens. Every year we welcome 600,000 international visitors.
We have international students from over 150 countries who've chosen to study here in Bristol.
And of course we have many fantastic globally significant businesses. So for me that's a source of great pride.
And it's why the theme for my Lord Mayor Year is going to be celebrating all of those international connections.
Truly our city is the world and our citizens are all humankind. Thank you.
Now let's get on with the rest of the meeting. It's going to be a quick one today hopefully.
So firstly we have a vote of thanks to the retiring Lord Mayor and Lady Marys. And Councillor Tom Renard, would you like to propose a motion please?
Thank you. I'm proud to move this vote of thanks to the outgoing Lord Mayor Paul Goggin.
The title of Lord Mayor was in the past reserved for the aristocracy.
And I think Paul you probably agree it's not a label that would really fit you.
Paul has also been open about his life story in the past from being made homeless in Bristol to becoming the city's first citizen representing our city in all manner of events meeting our diverse communities and honoring our armed forces.
It's something everyone I hope would agree is an inspiring story.
And we want Bristol to be a city of opportunity and Paul has embodied that.
There was a time where you worried us though.
Paul, it's great to see you looking so well. Your recovery has been nothing short of remarkable.
And I'm looking forward to working with you as the Labour Group's new spokesperson for housing and what a more fitting role given that you are currently a council tenant in our housing stock.
I'd also like to thank Paul O'Rourke for doing much more than perhaps she would have expected as well when putting her name forward to be Deputy Lord Mayor.
And of course I'd also like to thank Steve Pierce as well.
Steve is only as I understand it the second acting Lord Mayor in a position that goes back in some form to 1216.
Not only did he and Chris Jackson stay by Paul's bedside, visit him day in, day out during his time in hospital.
Steve stepped up to fill in for Paul whilst he was unable to carry out his civic duties.
He was slightly hesitant to don the red robes and pointy hats but I know that like Paul he enjoyed every minute of it.
Being Lord Mayor of Bristol is a huge honour and this honour is not lost on Paul and Steve.
So thank you Steve. I look forward to seeing your name etched into the wall of the conference hall beside Paul's as one of his two best men at his wedding.
This will be a poetic bit of history set in stone in city hall for centuries to come.
Whilst I appreciate I'm diverging from the remit of the speech, a vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor, I also want to thank the Lady Mayor's Debs for all the support that you gave to Paul during what I know was a very, very difficult year.
This year started with a proposal about five minutes after Paul became Lord Mayor and ended with a marriage about three days before the term finished.
A turbulent year book ended with some of the happiest moments of your life and for me personally, I'm just really pleased that what I was doing over the weekend has been at your wedding and I've not had to attend your funeral this year.
So thank you Paul for your service to the city. You have carried out the role of Lord Mayor with compassion, humility and a smile and I hope you find the time for a well earned rest in the coming months and of course a hernaming. Thank you.
(Applause)
I'd now like to call upon Councillor Paula Rourke to second the immersion.
Thank you. I'm delighted to be able to stand up to say a vote of thanks for Paul for a rather exceptional year.
I mean, I think everybody has been focusing on the firsts. I think you have a lot of firsts, even more than people have mentioned so far.
I reckon definitely you're the first Lord Mayor who surprised us all in the intermission in the meeting last year to go out and announced that he had proposed to his fiancé and she had accepted.
So huge round of applause for that. (Applause)
Then you surprised us again with much more startling and really concerning news when you are in hospital and I reckon that you are definitely the first Lord Mayor of Bristol who has ever survived being on an ECMO machine and have fought your way back to full health and we commend him and are delighted that that happened.
I think also, okay. (Applause)
For return to health. I think you're probably the first Lord Mayor who's been homeless and I think that bringing that to your experience as Lord Mayor has been an advantage across the city that has been really, really worthwhile and something that I think really resonated with our citizens.
I think also, as people have said, you're the first Lord Mayor, certainly within 300 years, if not forever who got married in the Lord Mayor's Chapel.
So the book ending thing with the two rings, the engagement ring and then ending with the wedding ring, absolutely, if not all firsts, certainly exceptional, an exceptional Lord Mayor and thank you for that.
I'd also like to say a little bit about the soft power of being Lord Mayor and many of you sitting here today have no idea what the Lord Mayor really does.
But this year I've had the privilege and also maybe sometimes a little bit sort of the sense of my own concern about my inadequacy for following along after Paul because I had been the Lord Mayor and then as Deputy Lord Mayor this year, I would turn up at events or gigs that people who had met Paul would have been at.
And they all came to me and said, He's amazing. He's just such a fabulous Lord Mayor. Do you know his compassionate, his humanity, all of these things?
And I was delighted to hear the praise and feel it, but perhaps a little bit of me was awesome.
Was I never good enough? But I think you have an exceptional in that. And those experiences, your lived experiences that you've been able to share have been really, really powerful and useful.
And I think that being the Lord Mayor doesn't have a lot of power, but it does have a lot of soft power and influence.
So being out there and being in the city and being the first citizen and representing the council and then chairing the meetings here is all part of that soft power.
And I suppose in a way you have your influence and you influence in this gentler way. And I today went to Paul's farewell ceremony in the chapel, his service, sort of course a ceremony.
It's a service that was held there to thank Paul for his service to the city. And Paul, I am sure, chose the reading.
And I think it's his last message, perhaps, to all of us. So if you bear with me, I'm just going to read a little bit of this.
And I'm hoping that the people on the benches here today will be listening acutely.
So it's a reading by the Lord Mayor. It's from, I don't know who it's from, but it's a reading.
So it says, I won't read it all. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Do all things without murmuring and arguing so that you may be blameless and innocent, but without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation in which you shine like stars in the world.
So I don't know whether it was explicitly intended, but I feel it's Paul's last message to all of us here today.
And I feel sure that in the next coming, civic year, we will be living up to that in memory of your great service to us all.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Paula. Tim.
Thank you, Lord Mayor. The motion before full council is that a vote of thanks be recorded for the retiring Lord Mayor and Lady Mayor S.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
Those against say no.
The motion is carried.
Thank you.
Councillor GOGGING, would you like to address full council?
Thank you, Andrew.
And thank you for those made of the speeches. It's really quite humbling.
Yes, what a year.
I'm not going to forget it lightly.
The first thing I have to do, obviously, is to say thank you to so many people.
So I'm going to go all Gwyneth Paltrow for a minute, I'm afraid.
And yes, imposter syndrome. If anybody sits in that chair and doesn't have imposter syndrome, I don't trust them because, yeah, as you say, it's quite an honour and a privilege.
So, whom am I going to thank? Well, first off, my team behind the scenes that make sure I get to where I'm supposed to be at the right time and you will be supported ably by them.
I'm sure, Andrew, and you'll find out how wonderful they are.
And they've all become friends as well as colleagues now.
So, Rachel and Zara, my drivers, Richard, Les, Sharon, Emmanuel, and even Tony and Gareth.
I think Gareth drove me once on my very first engagement.
And now he's driving buses, but there you go.
From democratic services, Oliver, Louise, Tom, Tim, Lucy, and Paula for taking up the slack when I wasn't able to do so.
So, yes, a year full of life events, shall we say. I started off May the 8th last year, so I've managed to actually squeeze in 54 weeks of being Lord Mayor.
So, I don't know how I've managed to do that, but that's extra two weeks, it's been brilliant.
May the 8th, when I got Devs and Mumbetty to come into the parlour and unbeknownst to Devs, which meant that it took about 10 minutes to answer, because I'd been putting the idea that I would never get married around for several months,
even though that was my plan after all, because, and I may have told you this last year, but hey, it's my last chance to talk.
I made a promise in a pub one day, and some of Devs' friends are here that they've witnessed it, and I said, If I ever get to be Lord Mayor, I will propose.
And I am a man of my word, so I did, and she thankfully said yes.
But six weeks after that, I was taken ill, I couldn't breathe, all of a sudden, I thought we had the flu, I'd been taking labships, having hot baths as you do.
And then after, it was actually after an empire fighting chance evening at Gloucestershire Cricket Club, we'd been fine, we'd had a few drinks and some food and what have you.
I woke up that morning, about four o'clock, went to the loo, came back, I couldn't catch my breath, I didn't know what was wrong, and Devs came in and said, Are you all right?
And I said, Ambulance.
And she said, What?
I said, Ambulance, now.
Because I literally couldn't use my...
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Because I'd waited so long, oh there we go, I'd waited so long to be Lord Maya, it just seemed like my kind of luck that I got sick during that 12 month period.
So anyway, after about, I don't know, it was three or four weeks in there and they sent me home with some antibiotics and said, You'll be fine, take two tablets and a glass of water and call me in the morning.
And unfortunately, I did have to call them the following day because I had deteriorated quite substantially.
So I ended up back in hospital, I then had an event where I had a temperature of 105.9 or 42 degrees for you youngsters.
Or is it the other way around, I can never remember, sorry.
That's the last thing I remember, I remember the nurse pulling the emergency cord and all these people rushing into my room and I thought, Oh, hello.
They didn't even come in to say hello, but alas not.
So I woke up two and a half months later on intensive care, I had a tube in my throat, I've got a new belly button as a scar, but a little bit further up.
I couldn't speak, I couldn't move my arms or my legs because my muscles had atrophied and there was Deb's.
I'm quite probably Steve looking very gravely at me and I had no idea what happened.
But anyway, a couple of days after I woke up, Deb said to me, I've booked the Lord Mayor's Mansion for May the 18th.
And I'm like. And she said, Yeah, we're getting married.
We were supposed to get married in October.
And she said, I did ask you when you were in a coma.
She said, I asked if you objected to make it known and apparently I didn't, so there you go.
But it shows the ridiculous faith that this woman has in me, that she was convinced I was going to make it.
She was going to come out and I was going to get married, which I did three days ago.
Being Lord Mayor has been the most fantastic experience I've had.
I've concentrated because of my history on homelessness charities when I can.
I think I've visited almost everyone in the city from Bosch to the Salvation Army at Logos House and many, many more.
And I'm now a regular attendee at the Bristol Homelessness Forum.
And I've also attended a lot of different faiths, religious ceremonies, for example.
During Ramadan, I can't tell you how many wonderful meals I ate, but I think you can probably see that from my girth.
And I visited the Sikh Gudwara.
And one thing I think that I'm going to carry on doing in my spare time as being a Councillor is I'm going to bring those faiths together, even more so than they are already.
We had the Grand Ifta in the Bristol Cathedral this year, and you should have read some of the comments.
People were losing their minds over this, you know, or Muslims in a Christian cathedral.
It's like, you just don't get it, you just don't get it.
It's all about peace and love.
When I did a speech there, I was almost walking on there because I could see people from every faith and none sitting, sharing food.
And it was just like, you know, it was like one of those artist impressions that people go, Oh, this is what heaven looks like.
It's an artist's impression, it's not a photograph.
So, yeah, I will continue my work doing that.
I will continue my work with homelessness.
And I'm looking forward to backing you up, Andrew, whenever I can, and if I can offer any advice,
although you obviously your ward mate is a two-time Lord Mayor as well, so I'm sure she's told you already.
Anyway, thank you to everyone, Steve and Jack, who are two best men.
And everyone else that's just a lot of you popped in to see me in hospital and talk nonsense, and I really appreciated that.
Yes, and the only thing I will say to the Councillor, who said I should have my Lord Mayor's allowance taken away, which I did hear about, because I was incapable, well...
So, thank you very much, and now over to the main man.
Thank you, Paul. We now have voted thanks to the retiring Deputy Lord Mayor, and if I could ask Councillor McAllister to propose a motion, please.
Thank you, Lord Mayor, and congratulations on your appointment.
I look forward to your shepherding of our meetings, and I trust that we won't be too badly behaved on your watch.
I'm here to give a vote, thanks to our outgoing Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Paula O'Rourke.
Throughout the past two years, as Deputy Lord Mayor and Lord Mayor, Paula has discharged her duties with steadfast dedication, good humour, and a commitment to uplifting the voices of those who are often marginalised from the political process.
Paula was Lord Mayor when I arrived in the Council following a midterm election, and I fondly remember how she took special care to ensure I understood the procedures and processes of full Council.
Although I do cringe a bit at the memory of her publicist management of myself for using the term 'acting Lord Mayor' to her, so maybe her teaching wasn't all that after all.
One would never have known that through her attitude in Chantful Council meetings, though, where Councillors of all parties, learned first hand never to cross the former schoolteacher.
I've been lucky enough to work with Paula on our shared area committees and community meetings covering our neighbouring wards.
Her dedication to community service, to meaningful dialogue with residents, and the betterment of the public realm is clear in all her actions, and I was especially impressed by how on top of her brief she always was, despite the extra demands of the Mayor position.
At this point, I'd like to briefly mention as well Paula's former ward colleague, Clifton Councillor Katie Grant, who ably picked up a greater share of the ward work to enable Paula to take on the duties of Lord Mayor.
Katie's no longer a Councillor, but her exemplary work ethic and deep public commitment to public service remain an example to us all, and I now speak for the whole green group in extending heartfelt thanks to her as well.
On the interesting things about being Lord Mayor, so I've heard, is going out across the whole of Bristol, meeting thousands of the wonderful people who make our city what it is today.
As someone who arrived in Bristol in 2013, Paula would be the first to tell you of the value she found in getting out of her ward bubble and exploring the city as part of her mayoral duties.
A particular example stands out to me. Paula is proudly Irish, she may even have told you about it at some point, but for a long time after moving to Bristol, I had struggled with connecting fully with the Irish diaspora in our city.
Being Lord Mayor was an opportunity to change that and she fully seized it. Getting involved with the organising of the St Patrick's Day today, no relation, Paula helped boost the turnout from a couple of hundred people to over 7,000 in a wonderful celebration of Irish history and culture.
There was a celebration of everything that makes Bristol the vibrant, diverse and attractive city it is, and I know how proud Paula was to have a part in making that happen.
So as you step back from your citywide duties and return to focus full-time on Clifton, all that is left to say, Paula, is thank you for your service and I'll see you in area committee.
[Applause]
Thank you, Patrick, and now it counts the Western, would you like to second, please?
Thank you very much, my Lord Mayor, and can I give you my personal congratulations on your elevation today as well?
I promise to thoroughly misbehave as much as is possible, but no one will be shocked at that at all.
Before I move on to the vote to thanks to Councillor Rourke, can I also give my personal thanks as well to Councillor Goggin for your work you did?
As well, I was with you at the Graniftar in the Cathedral, and I had a thoroughly rotten time.
What happened is, you might notice, I'm a rather plump gentleman.
I like to refer to myself as festively ready all the year round.
And I turned up there with the door, we went into the Cathedral to Graniftar, and immediately I'm offered a chair, and I thought, oh, I've reached that age, but fair enough.
Unfortunately, the Lord Mayor at the time sits down, cross-legged on the floor.
My legs have not crossed in quite a while.
But I thought if the Lord Mayor is going to do it with a crutch, then I have to do it too.
For the next two hours, I lost all feeling of sensation in my ankles.
But actually, we were there, Muslims, Christians, and opposite us, there were three Indian students, so we're Hindus as well.
But we managed to share a common religion for those two hours where I lost all feeling in my toes.
Cricket, and that's exactly the entire conversation.
So you can bring it together, and if the songs have got the right subject, the door we need to remember them.
Cricket.
But on to Paula, I have to say, I've always wondered why we do a vote of thanks to the Cathedral Mayor.
I mean, we know what their year is.
They've stepped down, they're relaxing, they're stealing the Volavons in the few events that they go to,
where the Lord Mayor doesn't really want to go to, so it sort of gives it to the Lord Mayor.
And they're just genuinely having a great year.
A bit of a relaxing, but the holidays in, they can pick up the casework that they've ignored solidly for the last 12 months.
But that year is not at all what Paula had.
So she's very much thin there.
The thing you're retiring, you know, stepping back, she's doing it, the holidays are booked.
And then, Councillor Goggin, have a day.
Councillor Goggin, obviously you get sick, pulls through.
Thank you.
And I've got a safe piece.
Thank you very much.
We're all your hard work standing in.
But Paula picked up that slack.
So during that whole period, Councillor Rourke is the one that steps up, that starts chairing the meeting.
She's doing all the duties of the Lord Mayor, having thought that she'd have a bit of a breather,
so the adrenaline crashes, no doubt she gets the summer cold that we all do after every election.
And then, so she's thrust right back into the lines then.
And of course, we're a very lovely chamber, we never misbehave at all.
We don't heckle or say things that are inappropriate at any point.
Bowing to her now.
But she stepped up to that plate admirably, and she did it with the rigid discipline of the former teacher.
It has to be said, I'm slightly terrified of her.
But also with good humour.
But you kept us on an even keel, you kept the whole train of our governance of our Council moving.
And for that, from my group, beyond what Deputy Lord Mayor should get, thank you.
You deserve all of our praise, that was a hell of a job.
And I thank you very much for everything you did.
I'm sure your ward is loving the fact you're back with them, your colleagues obviously are.
Congratulations on everything you did, but from us personally, a job well done.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Mark, Tim.
Thank you, Lord Mayor.
The motion before full Council is that a vote of thanks be recorded for the retiring Deputy Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor's Council.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
Those again say no.
The motion is carried.
Thank you very much.
We now move on to agenda item four, which is election of Deputy Lord Mayor.
So I'd now like to call upon Councillor Zowie-Pete to propose the motion.
And Zowie, I believe this is your first speech as well, so good luck.
We won't heck or too much.
Hello.
So there's not really much that I can say that hasn't already been said.
The last year has been one of both ups and downs for Councillor Goggin.
As many have said, he proposed to the Lady Mayor Estebse on his first day in the Lord Mayor's parlour.
And on behalf of all of us here, I think we would like to congratulate you on time the not,
and we wish you a long life of love and happiness together.
We are truly glad to see that you have recovered.
I don't think I need to go into the specific details of what happened, I think we're all very aware of what happened.
But it's good to see you back here, and we are so proud to have you as our Deputy Lord Mayor,
and that we are so proud to call you our colleague and work alongside you.
Despite these hardships, you've worked as the Lord Mayor and we can all see that you've truly loved every moment.
From the flag raising, to the citizenship ceremonies, and working with the community groups that celebrate and champion
the people who make up our incredible city.
May your life serve as an inspiration to all of us who have the honour of serving Bristol as elected Councillors.
Your journey from sleeping rough to becoming the Lord Mayor of Bristol
is one that I'm sure a few of us here may relate to and very well may aspire to.
You may have shown us that no matter our beginnings, if we work hard, enjoy the journey where we can,
and dedicate ourselves to serving those in need, we all have the capacity to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us.
Whilst it is a shame that you may have missed some of your year as Lord Mayor, I'm sure that as Deputy,
there may be a few more chances to adorn the ceremonial robes, the chain and the hat.
Finally, I would like to extend another long, warm welcome to and thank you to Deb's for her time as Lady Mayor Russ
and to Steve Pierce for stepping up as Acting Lord Mayor in your absence.
On that note, I'm delighted to say that we move this vote for the election of Councillor Paul Goggin to be the Deputy Lord Mayor of Bristol.
I'm sure you'll bring your quintessential love of life for Bristol and for democracy to this role just as you did your last.
Well then, Zoe, you've done it, you can relax now. Councillor Classic, would you like to second please?
Thank you, my Lord Mayor. So I know that we've already had voted thanks for the outgoing Lord Mayor,
but I would just like to say thank you so much for your service over the last year.
And I'm so pleased to see you back in the chamber today. I know that that was something that we thought might not happen,
but a huge congratulations to you and Deb's as well for your wedding.
And thank you so much to the outgoing Deputy Lord Mayor for stepping up to take on the duties.
So you didn't envision when you took up the position you would have to step up for.
I'll keep this brief. I rise to second the nomination and hope that you get to enjoy this year of engagements
without the stress of keeping us all in line during full council. Good luck, Andrew.
And I wish you a far less dramatic year than your year as Lord Mayor and a far quieter year than that of your predecessor.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah. Tim.
Thank you, Lord Mayor.
The motion before full council is the councillor Paul Gogging, the elected as Deputy Lord Mayor.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
Those again say no.
No.
The motion is carried.
Thank you. And I invite the Deputy Lord Mayor to read and sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
I'm going to bring around to you.
I, Councillor Paul Gogging, haven't been elected to the Office of Deputy Lord Mayor,
declare that I take the office upon myself and will duly and faithfully carry out the duties of that office
according to my best judgment and ability.
Thank you.
I've got to give you some more bling now, Paul.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We will now move through the rest of the agenda, after which we will be having refreshments in the conference hall.
You'll be pleased to hear.
So, agenda item five is declarations of interest.
Can I ask please whether any councillors have any interest to declare regarding the items on today's agenda?
Let's move on to agenda item six, which is minutes of the previous meeting.
I move that the minutes of the previous four council meeting held on the trial for March 2024 be agreed as a correct record.
Do I have a seconder?
I rise to second the minutes, LORD MAYOR, and I reserve my remarks.
Thank you, Councillor Wilcox.
Can I take it that the minutes are agreed?
Aye.
Thank you.
Agenda item seven is LORD MAYOR's business.
Council notes the sad news that Alderman Peter Abraham has recently passed away.
Peter spent an absolutely astonishing 55 years in local politics, first being elected in 1966, before most of us were even born, I should think.
And serving on every committee imaginable, Peter was LORD MAYOR of Bristol for three terms and was an outstanding advocate for the city.
Council also notes the passing of Alderman Brian Richards.
Brian served as Bristol Councillor from 1962 to 1992.
Brian was a magistrate for 31 years and was highly active in community organisations, including serving the SS Great Britain Trust for nearly 50 years, and the Bristol Old Vic Trust for 60 years.
I now invite members to say a few words in tribute, and first I'd like to call upon Councillor Rob Briar to speak on behalf of the Green Group, Rob.
Thank you, LORD MAYOR.
I was sad to learn of the passing of Alderman Peter Abraham.
I last served as a Councillor between 2013 and 2016.
I do remember Peter being a very effective orator in the Chamber in a tradition of carefully laying out a position fully and using the speech to persuade others, not just trumpet a party policy.
Although, of course, he was doing that as well. He was quite clever.
Now, of course, I didn't always agree with him in that position, but frankly, and the fact that there were times we had some cross words, but to his immense credit, this never affected his ability to work cross-party and find common cause with me or with others where I witnessed it.
Strangely, what I'll remember most about Peter is a planning committee site visit where we all piled into a mini bus to see the particular application in its context.
It was the first time I'd really spoken to him, I think, and I got some really valuable insights into how the Council works for such a fledgling Councillor as me.
For someone with such a long service, he was prepared to make time for new Councillors, and that has to be commended.
I've looked back at some of the things Peter championed in his time as a Councillor, and one of the most notable is his desire to see greater support for mental health provision.
I remember a particular speech he made in February 2016. It was one of those moments where I was taken aback by something someone was saying. It was fantastic to hear.
My co-counciler during my previous term of office was Alderman Gus Hoyt, and he messaged me when he heard the news and just said, A true gente.
My sincere condolences to Peter's family for your loss, and at this time, and I hope you'll remember Peter's long service to Bristol with fond memories.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you. Councillor Brickels will now speak on behalf of the Labor Group.
Thank you, Mayor. I rise to speak first about Alderman Brian Richards.
Now, Brian was one of a generation of Labor grandis, so four more long-standing Labor Councillors who are still active in the party when I first joined it in 1992, the year he retired as a Councillor.
I first came across Brian sitting on the top table. He was an officer, possibly chair, of the then district Labor Party.
Something managed to get a delegates place too early on in my political life.
These meetings would pack out the large hall that used to exist on the top floor of what is now Tony Ben House.
The walls were lined with historic trade union banners, really giving a sense of history, occasion and pride.
Being a delegate to the BLP walls, to me at least, quite something.
It was where Council-related policies were discussed and served as a conduit between the Labor Group and the City Labor Party's trade unions and Councillors.
So that's where I first came across, Brian Richards.
Taking charge of often quite heated debates about how best we could serve the city.
We started by journey to becoming the Labor and Cup Council I am now.
Brian served as a minister of Council for most of the 30 years between 1962 and 1992.
He was elected to serve in Woodmill Hill, Richardsworth and finally Hartcliffe, as well as appeared serving the Labor and County Council.
He was the deputy leader of the Council for five years, as well as a former chair planning and leisure committees and vice chair of resources.
As well as being a magistrate in Bristol for over 30 years between 2014 and 2004, Brian was a member of the Law Chancellor's Advisory Committee for Bristol for seven years.
As his profession was insurance with roles which included financial advisor and audit inspector, Brian was a member and EC member of the National Union of Insurance Workers.
This later became Bifu and he was union president for five years. He also had, as has already been alluded to, many interests outside of politics.
Thank you Brian for your service to our city over so many years and my care don't assist his family and friends.
It would of course be remiss if we not to mention Alderman Peter Abraham, who has also passed the Fabricatus Council for 55 years, as has already been said.
Another giant of the Bristol Council who seemed to be part of the furniture. His performance of full council was the stuffers of legends and if you know what I mean.
Here's what you call an old school civic toy, a such only respected even when we didn't agree with him.
Again, my condolences to his widow Pearl, who had the pleasure to meet on several occasions, as well as his family and friends. Thank you.
(Applause)
Okay, so Williams will now speak on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group. Thank you.
Thank you Lord Mayors. Congratulations to you and your term of office. It's actually 25 years since I last spoke in this chamber and I'm only sad that it's on such a sad occasion today.
Peter Abraham has just been remarked, served this city well for over five decades, quite a remarkable achievement, not just on this council, but also he was one of the first members of Avon County Council as well.
Throughout the 1990s, he and I were regular sparring partners when I used to sit where Emma is sitting and Peter used to sit where Martin is sitting in each full council meeting.
We would land blows across each other, all to no effect of course, because in those days Labour had over 50 councilors, surely times have definitely changed.
Peter gave as good as he got in the council chamber and he was a remarkable debater. But outside the chamber, he was also remarkably good fun.
And that side of his character really came to the fore in the terms that he served as Lord Mayor of this city.
He served two consecutive terms in my first two years as the MP for Bristol West, so we met practically every Friday and Saturday for two years and in during that period got to know each other quite well.
He certainly carried the dignity of the office very well, as I'm sure you will, and Andrew, but also had a sense of the ridiculousness that sometimes comes with those occasions.
And I remember too quite well, there were lots of culinary events that you were about to discover in your term of office.
I remember one of the annual Diwali dinners, which were always a great occasion in Bristol. It was in Dury's Hotel.
And the chef, should we say, been rather over enthusiastic with the curry powder.
And Peter and I both had to make our speeches with our eyes streaming and our mouths burning.
Another event was at the opening of the Caribbean restaurant on Cheltenham Road.
The chicken was fine, but the real event came after the dinner when the hosts invited us both to lead the dancing.
Peter's dancing, shall we say, was rather better than mine, which should come as no surprise, because one of the things about him that maybe many people don't know, that before he was a councillor, he was a son and dance man, performing on Western Pier, Lord Mayor.
So he certainly put on a good show at every council occasion, every formal occasion.
Of course, every good showman is so unsuccessful because of the person who often accompanies them to events.
On this occasion, I particularly want to offer our condolences to his widow Pearl after such a long marriage.
Peter served this city well over a long period of time. Events will simply not be the same without him being in the same room.
I'm sure all the people who are on the benches as well will reflect on that fact.
I will miss him, my little Democrat colleagues will miss him.
But more importantly, I think the people of this city who we serve for so well, for so long, will miss him too.
Thank you, Stephen. I'd now like to call upon Councillor Richard Eddy to speak on behalf of the Conservative group, Richard.
Lord Mayor, first I must say I'm quite surprised, but hon that you call me to speak.
Since the election, I seem to be occupying Gary Copkin's seat.
But I do appreciate you elevating your role. You have to rise above petty politics.
Could I firstly give my congratulations to you?
I hope you enjoy. I'm sure you'll have your year in office as Lord Mayor.
Obviously, you've had been a previous Lord Mayor's consult, a deputy Lord Mayor, so in my view, very few, if any.
occupants of your post have had such training issues, so you have set a high bar for yourself.
Secondly, and primarily, two Council titans and champions for Bristol have recently died.
I hope you temper your usual passion for iron timekeeping.
We just bet of elements of torrents. Shall I say perhaps, a liberal approach perhaps?
It was my privilege to work with Peter Abraham as a political colleague in this chamber, and elsewhere, for 30 years, become firm friends with Peter.
And in truth, he became something of mental to me. Naturally, it won't surprise you to hear. He was somewhat to the left of me.
But then, to be fair, most people are. Literally everyone of them.
In 2000, I became Deputy Tory leader to Peter, and subsequently succeeded him as Tory leader.
Afterwards, he went on to serve very effectively as Bristol's Lord Mayor for his third, second and third terms.
Even today, when I chair a council body, I often say to officers, expect me to do a Peter Abraham.
By that, I mean, I aim to lead by example, often display an element of actually political courage, and not just preside over a committee.
I was said Peter had the energy and ideals of at least two people half his age, and that remains true.
The minute of my stature, Peter Abraham was a giant, as others have said.
He was an elected member for twice serving greater Bristol, once the subfoot, which then accepted this far west as a big five.
It was Bristol's largest war, I think it had 22,000 electors, and later lead for state bishop.
Frankly, to serve over a half a century is a formidable feat. I'm sure something which will never be repeated.
Of course, he came from a generation of political titans in Bristol, led by Labour's Graham Robertson and Torres above war.
Graham Robertson, Peter, were great sparring partners, but never anonymous.
Peter once fought, he had got the better of Graham, he taught me.
Graham's completely actually, some are sorted on what he pledged, so I'd over him.
When he challenged him, Graham came back to him and said, yes, but I was lying the first time Peter wasn't I.
As Peter said, where can you go from then?
Once someone so fragrantly said they were lying, there's no words.
A firstly proud Bristol Ian, and great advocate for the city, Peter was injured when the family home was bonded in the Bristol Blitz.
For the rest of his life, he had to treat the burn souls of his feet with a battery operated medical device.
Unfortunately, routine airport scans would really fill it in the luggage, followed by a piercing along the land,
much to the acute embarrassment of Peter and Peter and Peter, and later that they had a lot of potential goals.
As with so often with successful politician spaces, Pearl was their tower of support for Peter.
Indeed, he would often refuse to go to an evening event with actor.
They met at their Bristol primary school when April 8th, 10.
Our sincere condolences go to Pearl, their surviving son Chris and Peter's family.
Peter's life was very much a life lived well and for Bristol.
It is a phrase to glibly apply today, but frankly, it has genuinely the end of an era with Peter's passing.
Finally, another war horse of the generation recently died, or to men Brian Richards.
Brian represented three separate associates, including bishops who have arguably the best seat in the city.
Not that I'm biased, you understand.
He was also deputy leader of the Council for five years as Fabian remote.
Although he retired the year I was originally elected in 1992, I knew him quite well socially
and through his memories of Bethnister Group.
Here's a journey when it lost to Bristol, and my words are not influenced in the slightest.
That I'm not together with Brian's funeral.
His son told me I was his favourite Tory Councillor, allegedly.
Our thoughts and prayers go to his widow and his family.
Thank you Richard, and Councillor Paul Goggin, we'd just like to add a few words.
Thank you my LORD MAYOR for allowing me just to add this tiny little anecdote about Peter.
I worked with him during my first term, and I was on the proud committee with him, and we'll mention no more about that.
And he was also the last LORD MAYOR to at least live temporarily in the LORD MAYOR's mansion.
The little anecdote I wanted to share was, last December, myself and Demps were invited along to the MTM Awards ceremony
for the BME community of Bristol.
I was asked to present a award, and it was somebody I didn't know, but then all of a sudden they rushed up and said,
Sorry, we've got someone, he's not very well, so could you present the award to him and do it now?
And I was like, Oh, okay.
And in true sort of Oscar fashion, they handed me an envelope on the stage.
And I opened it, and when I opened it, I smiled, because it said, obviously, Peter A perhaps in there.
And he came up onto the stage, and we were both as surprised as each other to see each other in that position.
But it was lovely to see him, and just to note that even at the end of the evening when me and Demps were still there,
somehow Peter had performed a miraculous recovery and was still eating and drinking right up until the end.
And I think that says a lot about him.
But he was, as Councillor Williams said, a champion to all communities in Bristol, and we will all miss him.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you for that, Paul.
I would now like to ask for the Council to observe a minute silence.
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Thank you.
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We're well over halfway through to do stick with it.
Okay, so agenda item eight is written public statements.
Under the Constitution, there was no provision for public forum at the Annual Council Meeting.
However, as indicated on the agenda, it was agreed that written statements could be submitted to this meeting as long as they were about items on this agenda.
Statements will be noted, and it's not possible to speak to statements at this meeting.
There were a total of six public statements received, and the list will be displayed on the screen.
All statements were published for Councillors and the public to view in advance of the meeting.
Agenda item nine is dates and times of full Council meetings 2024 to 2025.
As LORD MAYOR, I'd like to move this report.
I'd like to ask the Deputy LORD MAYOR to second the report.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
Sorry, taken by surprise.
I second the report and reserve my remarks.
Thank you, Deputy LORD MAYOR.
The party group whips have been fully consorted on this report, so if there are no objections,
I propose to move directly to voting on the recommendations which are to approve the dates and times of full Council meetings for 2024 to 2025.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
All those against say no.
The ayes have it.
Thank you.
That concludes Agenda item nine.
Agenda item ten is the establishment of committees 2024 to 2025.
This report asks full Council to establish committees for the year ahead.
As LORD MAYOR, I'd like to move the report and I'd like to ask the Deputy LORD MAYOR to second the report.
Thank you, Mayor.
I second the report.
Thank you, Deputy LORD MAYOR.
Party group whips have been fully consorted on this report.
I propose to move directly to voting on the recommendations to approve the Council committees for 2024 to 2025.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
All those against say no.
I think the ayes have it again.
Thank you.
That concludes Agenda item ten.
Agenda item eleven is allocation of committee seats and appointment of members to committees.
This report seeks Council's agreement for the allocation of seats on committees in accordance with the statutory requirements concerning political balance and the appointment of chairs.
As LORD MAYOR, I'd like to move the report.
I'd like to ask the Deputy LORD MAYOR to second the report.
I second the report.
Thank you.
Again, party group whips have been fully consorted on this report.
So once again, I propose to move directly to voting on the recommendations to approve the allocation of seats on committees.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
All those against say no.
The ayes win again.
Thank you.
That concludes Agenda item eleven.
Next, we move on to Agenda item twelve, which is appointment appointment of Leader.
This item recommends that Councillor Tony Dyer be appointed as Leader of this Council.
As LORD MAYOR, I'd like to move this item and I'd like to ask the Deputy LORD MAYOR to second this item.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
All those against say no.
The ayes have it.
Once again, congratulations, Councillor Dyer.
Finally, Agenda item thirteen is appointment of Deputy Leader.
This item recommends that Councillor Heather Mack be appointed as Deputy Leader of this Council.
As LORD MAYOR, I'd like to move this item and I'd like to ask the Deputy LORD MAYOR to second the item.
Aye.
Second the item.
All those in favour say aye.
Aye.
All those against say no.
The ayes win.
Congratulations, Councillor Mack.
[Applause]
I'd now like to invite our new Councillor, Leader, Councillor Dyer to address full Council.
Thank you, LORD MAYOR.
And may I add my contestants on your appointment.
And thank you, Deputy LORD MAYOR.
So glad to see you here.
I would also like to express my thanks to Councillors for letting me as Leader.
As a proud artwork, boy, this is a very proud moment for me.
And I'm trying not to get too emotional about it, but sorry.
I'm not going to do a job, sir.
In return, I would like to congratulate all of those Councillors you have been selectively elected to this Chamber.
You are now, collectively, the most powerful group of Councillors that have been elected to this Chamber for almost 25 years.
I say most powerful because almost all of you will be sitting on policy committees where the decision-making power of this Council will now largely rest with you.
Within your committees, you will hold, as part of that committee, the power to take decisions that will impact upon the whole city.
On its residents, its economy, its health and well-being, its natural environment and its future.
My LORD MAYOR, many great people have been quoted with in these wars.
And I thought I was going to be the first to quote Spider-Man, but apparently I've been called towards Councillor Mark Weston and got there previously.
But to quote Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility.
Each of you, as decision-makers within this Council, now have the power to affect the lives of tens of thousands of our fellow Bristolians.
Often, I hope positively, but given the financial, environmental and societal pressures facing our city, there will be times when you will have to make tough decisions.
All of us, as a collective body of powerful decision-makers, need to accept the greater responsibility of ensuring that those decisions are made in both a timely and informed manner and to the best of our abilities.
Our citizens deserve nothing less.
My LORD MAYOR, clearly the recent elections have been very successful for my own party, and it has been accepted by others that we now have a mandate to deliver on our manifesto.
However, we have also made it clear that we will be looking to work cross-party and collaboratively.
And we will look to help other parties deliver their good ideas as well, because, as has been said on various occasions, no single party has a monopoly on good ideas.
And further than that, none of us in this Chamber have a monopoly on good ideas, and this is why we will continue the work of one city to share and develop ideas from organisations of white across the city.
We will also continue to work with our American buying authority and our neighbouring authorities, particularly on things such as transport, skills and investment.
And as one of the UK's major core cities, one of 11 cities outside London, we will continue to leverage that collective bargaining opportunity
to secure support from an incoming government to help us address the problems that face all of our cities.
And finally, LORD MAYOR, we still continue to be a European city, and we will continue to forge a relationship with our fellow European cities as we seek to learn from other cities and share our ideas with them.
My LORD MAYOR, all through Bristol is seen by many as a successful city. It remains a city with deep divisions within it.
When many of our residents are unable to share fully in its successes. So when we reach out for good ideas, we should not be afraid to reach out to our own residents and our own communities to seek ideas, particularly for those you need our support the most.
Because until we are able to demonstrate clear, measurable improvement for the lives of our residents white across the city, we cannot truly describe ourselves as a successful city.
With great power does come great responsibility, and I take on this role as a leader known how it comes without responsibility to out provide a better future for all of our residents, and I look forward to working with all the Councillors in this Chamber to deliver on that promise. My LORD MAYOR, thank you.
[Applause]
Thank you, Councillor Dyer. That concludes Agenda Item 13 and today's meeting. Thank you to Councillors and also guests for attending. For new Councillors, the bad news is most Council meetings are a lot longer than this one. So sorry about that.
The date of the next meeting of full Council is on Tuesday, the 9th of July, at 6pm. And now the bit you've all been waiting for, refreshments are available in the Queen Elizabeth Conference Hall next door. Thank you very much everyone.
Thank you.
[Applause]
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