News that the last Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees is to sit in the House of Lords has been met with surprise — even from his own party.
“What the actual f***?” tweeted Labour councillor for nearby Paulton on Bath and North East Somerset Council, Grant Johnson, in reaction to the news. Mr Rees was one of thirty new Labour peers appointed to the House of Lords by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mr Johnson was the election agent for Dan Norris, the Labour West of England Metro Mayor, at the general election where Mr Norris was returned to Parliament as an MP after 14 years. The two Labour Mayors had clashed over the years — notably over whether to invest in plans for a Bristol Underground.
Now both have left or are leaving their Mayoral roles in the West and will both sit in different chambers in the Palace of Westminster.
Mr Rees, the first black mayor of a British city, defeated incumbent independent George Ferguson to become Mayor of Bristol in 2016 and held the office until it was abolished in 2024. He lost out on being Labour candidate for the Bristol North East seat for the 2024 general election to Damien Egan.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Rees said: “I am deeply honoured to have been appointed to the House of Lords by the Prime Minister and His Majesty the King. A huge thank you to my family, friends, and team for all their support over many years. Looking forward to doing my best to do good with this incredible opportunity.”
Thangam Debbonaire, the former Labour MP for Bristol West who lost her seat to Green co-leader Carla Denyer at the 2024 general election, was also appointed to the Lords. Other notable appointments include Sue Gray, the civil servant behind the Partygate report who became a Labour staffer before being dropped by Keir Starmer, and Luciana Berger, a Labour MP who quit the party to form the Independent Group in 2019 over concerns of antisemitism in the party under then leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Other Labour politicians in the area have had a more positive reaction to Mr Rees’s peerage. In response to his post on X, Labour councillor for New Cheltenham of South Gloucestershire Council Angela Morey said “congratulations” and North Somerset’s Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan tweeted a gif of cheering minions.
Somerset Live WhatsApp Breaking News and Top Stories
Join Somerset Live’s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone
Somerset Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Somerset Live team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.
To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.