Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol
Marvin is a Labour Party politician and has been the Mayor of Bristol since 2016
I see politics as a huge but imperfect opportunity to do good. The decision I have made is to take my fallen self, join an imperfect political party and work through a distorted political system in an effort to fix what I can in a broken world. I have found resolve in coming to terms with the fact that where there is aspiration there will be success but frustration and failure will also be part of the journey.
My journey into party politics did not happen in a straight line. I don’t come from a political family. We didn’t discuss the latest events with big thinkers around the dinner table. While I always aligned myself with the Labour Party, I only joined aged 33yrs.
I had always been committed to doing something about the unfairness and inequality I experienced in my life and seen in the lives of others. I chose to study Politics and Economic History at Swansea before staying on for an MA in Black American Politics. I then set out to find a way in to help make change. I worked for Tearfund before travelling to Washington DC to intern with Sojourners before travelling to Philadelphia to study for a Masters one global Economic Development and work with the Rev Dr Tony Campolo. I then returned to the UK to joined the BBC where I wanted to do jounalism in a way that gave a voice to the voiceless.
Throughout this time I had discounted what I labelled “mainstream” politics. I thought it corrupt, corrupting and unsavable. But I was challenged by Simon Woolley of Operation Black Vote. He shared his appreciation of the analysis I had of the world’s failings, but he asked me what I was going to do about it. It brought me face to face with a hard truth: that I had made a self satisfying art form of expressing dismay at the failings of “mainstream” politicians and politcial systems, but had never actually stepped onto the field of play to change the game.
That led to my joining the Labour Party and getting involved. Initially I had thought my aspiration would be to become a Member of Parliament. But I didn’t win my preferred selection, Bristol voted in the referendum to have a mayoral system and a Labour Councillor, Margaret Hickman, suggested I put myself forward to become the Labour candidate for mayor. Then from a standing start, events took over: I won selection, lost the 2012 election, put myself forward again in 2016, won selection and won the election.
City leadership is perhaps one of the most dynamic political opportunities of our time. We are seeing evidence of the inability of national governments working alone to face our major challenges. From climate change and migration to housing and public health, national governments are failing. We need global governance to move into its next iteration where the leaders of cities and networks of cities are equal partners in shaping the national and international context in which we live. And so I, and other city leaders, find ourselves acting locally and leading globally.