Bristol Mayor 'concerned' by lack of council diversity

Labour mayor Marvin Rees won a second term in office on Sunday

Bristol's newly re-elected mayor, Marvin Rees, has expressed concerns about the council's lack of diversity after the latest election results.

Labour cabinet member Afzal Shah - the city's sole Pakistani councillor - lost his seat in Easton.

Mr Rees insisted he had worked hard to help bring a wide range of people into leadership roles throughout Bristol.

He added: "We urgently need our critical leadership to genuinely reflect diversity in the city."

'Diversity of thought'

When he was elected in 2016, Marvin Rees became the first mayor of black African heritage in a major European city.

"What we have to make sure is that we protect that diversity of thought within the council chamber that we've worked so hard to bring through," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"That has been somewhat undermined by the election results, we've lost some good councillors. We don't want a uniform council, we want that diversity of thought. These issues are concerns to me."

Mr Rees was born and brought up in Bristol by his mother, moving between St Pauls, Lawrence Weston and Easton.

In his role as mayor he has declared Bristol a city of hope based on ambition, inclusion and social justice.

"Bristol is a fantastic city" he said.

"It has a progressive culture, it's ambitious with two world-class universities, but it has always been a fractured city in property, race, class, and that plays itself out in geography too."

He said he was continuing to work on bringing a wider range of people into leadership, in the council chamber as well as to sit on the board of the health service.