Local elections 2023: Conservatives take Bedford mayor from Lib Dems

Tom Wootton said "we're different in Bedford" and it was "just a wonderful place"

A newly elected Conservative mayor has said he was "shocked" to have beaten the previous Liberal Democrat candidate by 145 votes.

Tom Wootton was declared the new Bedford Borough Mayor late on Friday.

He ousted Dave Hodgson, who had been in the role for more than 13 years.

Mr Wootton said: "One can't get away from the national picture - we're just so happy that Bedford has done its traditional thing and bucked the trend."

Bedford's John Bunyan Sports and Fitness centre was the location for Bedford Borough Council's councillor and mayoral counts

Mr Wootton added: "I'm absolutely shocked, just unbelievably emotional, it's just a wonderful thing.

"We've got a lot to do, I'm just so looking forward to getting to work next week.

"We have a fantastic team of councillors brimming with abilities that haven't been used.

"We've been out of power in Bedford Borough for at least 14 years and we've never had a Conservative leader so it's just the most wonderful thing."

He said his job was to be "for everybody" and the "whole borough".

Dave Hodgson hoped his legacy on the council would be his "sound finances"

He thanked Mr Hodgson, who was elected in 2009, but said "now was the time for change".

His first job would be to "get to grips" with the £5bn East-West Rail project, which is set to go through the Bedford area.

Before he was elected he said it had been "an utter disaster from start to finish".

After his loss, Mr Hodgson said he was "gutted, it's the best job in Bedford, if not the world".

He wished Mr Wootton "all the best " but said: "I think he's going to feel the savage government cuts, so he's going to deal with them.

"It's been great to do it for 13-and-a-half years."

He said he did not think there was "one reason" why he lost but "I've done my best through that time".

Counting took place for most of Friday

The final vote count was 15,747 for Tom Wootton and 15,602 for Dave Hodgson.

The turnout for the mayoral election was 35%, the borough said.

In the local elections for Bedford Borough Council, the council still has no party in majority.

Conservative and Labour took 14 seats each, the Liberal Democrats won 13, three went to the Greens and two independent candidates were elected.

Due to boundary changes six additional seats were created for the unitary authority, where all seats were up for election.

Analysis:

Amy Holmes, BBC 3CR political reporter

The rumours for most of Friday night were that the count in the Bedford mayoral election was going to be very close, then after 22:30 BST, the result finally came in.

Dave Hodgson was elected in 2009 and lost in the end by just 145 votes, after a lengthy recount.

He told me he was surprised by the result, but that you can never take elections for granted. He will now take some time to rest and think about his future.

Tom, in his acceptance speech, thanked Dave for his years of service, and asked the crowd to give him a round of applause.

It was a long day as the count, for both the mayoral and borough council votes, had to be finished on Friday night, as the Bedford venue, the John Bunyan Sports and Fitness Centre, was not available on Saturday.

Although the borough has a Conservative at the helm, no one party has control of the council, so it will be interesting to see how alliances will form and how all the parties in the area work together.

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