THE Liberal Democrats have chosen a councillor from Bath to be their West of England Metro Mayor candidate.
Oli Henman has represented the Walcot ward on Bath & North East Somerset Council since 2023.
He works as a coordinator aiding community organisations with sustainability, and last year addressed the UN General Assembly for its ‘Summit of the Future’ action days.
Cllr Henman will be aiming to better the result of former Bristol West MP Stephen Williams, the party’s candidate in the 2021 mayoral election, who came fourth out of four.
He says he wants to use his experience to engage and involve local communities in the work the West of England Combined Authority does if he is elected Metro Mayor on May 1.
Cllr Henman said: “I’m committed to cutting waste and red tape in the Mayor’s office and putting power back where it belongs: in the hands of local communities.
“The West of England Mayor has a key role to play in delivering affordable and accessible transport, sustainable housing and the jobs of the future.
“We have seen that funds for bus service improvement have been wasted on unnecessary gimmicks like the ‘birthday bus’ scheme.”
The Metro Mayor leads the West of England Combined Authority, comprising Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils.
Labour and the Conservatives have both selected former Bristol city councillors, Helen Godwin and Steve Smith respectively, for the election, while the Greens have picked Mary Page, a Bristol activist who helped lead the successful campaign to scrap the city’s own directly-elected mayor.
Reform UK had yet to announce a candidate as the Voice went to print.
The party placed an online job advert at the end of January inviting applications to be its candidate, saying: “No prior political experience is necessary, but you must be talented, have a track-record solving problems in the real world, and be deeply patriotic.
“Most of all you must have a huge passion for improving the lives of the people of Mayor of West of England.”
Current Metro Mayor Dan Norris cannot stand for re-election because he was elected MP for North East Somerset & Hanham last July, and the Labour Party has banned MPs from having second jobs.
A South Gloucestershire councillor has announced he will stand as an independent in the election, triggering his expulsion from Labour.
Woodstock ward councillor Ian Scott accused the party of age and sex discrimination in November after a panel culled him from its shortlist of potential candidates.
After announcing he intends to run against Labour’s official candidate, the party has “terminated” his membership for breaching its rules.
Cllr Scott said he would “put my case to the court of public opinion”.
by John Wimperis, Alex Seabrook and Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service