VIP asks the candidates, is a set of short videos where we ask the main party candidates for Bristol Mayor the questions that you told us are important to you.
On 6 May Bristol will elect its next Mayor. The winner will have the power to directly shape both the city and your experience of living here.
Who that person is and their views, plans and opinions matter – particularly for people who are part of one or more of our equalities communities.
We have produced one video for each of the communities we work with
You can view all the videos by following this link to our YouTube channel
We asked what as Mayor they would do for…
- Bristol’s Black and Minority Ethnic communities. Including how can trust be built so communities are better supported, what can be done to help people to find work and how will they ensure they can work with and treat all of Bristol’s citizens as equals?
- Disabled people in Bristol. Including making upcoming developments in the city accessible, the mental health crisis affecting young people and the need for accessible communications.
- People of faith in Bristol. Including, how they plan to work with faith communities, making places of worship more inclusive and accessible and how should the balance be struck between religious beliefs and the concept of hate speech.
- Bristol’s LGBTQ+ communities. Including, the future of the cities LGBTQ+ venues, access to specialist healthcare and housing services, hate crime and why people still don’t always feel safe to be themselves in Bristol.
- Older People in Bristol. Including, their plans to tackle casual and institutionalised ageism and age discrimination, ensuring older people are involved in the development and delivery of policy and how Bristol can become an age friendly city.
In the videos you will hear from:
- The Conservative Party candidate Alastair Watson
- Green Party candidate Sandy Hore-Ruthven
- Labour Party candidate Marvin Rees
- Liberal Democrat candidate Caroline Gooch
Each candidate was interviewed separately so their answers are a direct response to the questions and they didn’t get to hear what each other had said in advance. We haven’t edited their responses so you can hear what they had to say in full.
We could only ask a small selection of the questions we know you have as communities and individuals. We hope that hearing from the candidates in these videos will help you as you decide who to vote for.
You can find all the videos by following this link to our YouTube channel