Marvin Rees
Marvin Rees | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 2nd Mayor of Bristol | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2016 | |
| Preceded by | George Ferguson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marvin Johnathan Rees April 1972 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
Marvin Johnathan Rees (born April 1972) is a British Labour Party politician. Since May 2016, he has served as Mayor of Bristol.
Early life and education
Marvin Rees was brought up in Bristol, partly in Lawrence Weston and Easton, by his British mother and Jamaican father.[1][2] He obtained a Masters in Political Theory and Government at the University of Wales in Swansea, and also a Masters in Global Economic Development at Eastern University (United States) in 2000.[1] Later he completed the World Fellows Program at Yale University.[3] During a fellowship he assisted Tony Campolo, an advisor to President Bill Clinton.[1]
Community involvement
Rees is the Founder and Programme Lead at The Bristol Leadership Programme, a two-week program that will help a dozen people annually from impoverished backgrounds to reach their aspirations.[4][5] He was also a member of the Bristol Legacy Commission which dispursed its funds and ceased operating in April, 2012.[6][7] and a former Director of the Bristol Partnership whose goals are to make Bristol's prosperity sustainable, reduce health and wealth inequality, build stronger and safer communities, and raise the aspirations and achievements of young people and families.[8]
Career
Rees has worked in diverse areas throughout his career. He was a freelance journalist and radio presenter at BBC Radio Bristol & Ujima Radio.[9] He was the Communications and Events Manager at Black Development Agency (now Phoenix Social Enterprise), an agency devoted to empowering individuals and communities through opportunities to work abroad.[10]
Marvin Rees was employed in the city of Bristol as the Programme Manager for race equality in mental health issues at NHS Bristol.[11] His experiences in the United States included work as an outreach assistant at the Sojourners Community and as a Youth Co-ordinator at Tearfund.[12]
Political career
In 2012, selected by an individual ballot of Labour Party members in the city, Rees defeated four other candidates including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour group in Bristol and a former Member of Parliament.[3]
On 5 May 2016, Rees was elected Mayor of Bristol. He received 56,729 voted in the first round and 12,021 transfer votes in the second round, meaning that he received 68,750 votes overall.[13][14]
Rees' term of office started with a £60 million budget deficit to 2020, and in August 2016 Rees instigated a voluntary severance programme aimed at reducing 1,000 from the council's 6,970 employees.[15]
Personal life
Marvin Rees, who describes himself as the mixed-race son of a Jamaican father and white single mother,[16] is married with three children and lives in Easton in Bristol.[17][18]
References
- ^ a b c "OBV Profile: Marvin Rees". Operation Black Vote. 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Morris, Steven (12 February 2016). "Marvin Rees: the Bristolian bearing the weight of Labour hopes". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Profiles of Labour’s candidates for the Bristol mayoralty: Marvin Rees", Labour Uncut, 18 May 2012.
- ^ "Who is Marvin Rees", Bristol Culture, 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Youth Mayor could Engage Young People", Bristol Post, 29 May 2012.
- ^ Bristol Legacy Commission Members Commission.
- ^ Bristol Legacy Commission.
- ^ "About us", Bristol Partnership.
- ^ Bristol Mayor news. Marvin Rees. http://www.mayor4bristol.com/candidates/marvin-rees/
- ^ Phoenix Social Enterprise http://www.pselocallyglobal.org/
- ^ NHS Bristol - Mental Health and Wellbeing.
- ^ Marvin Rees Biography, BBC News, 2 March 2005.
- ^ Emanuel, Louis (7 May 2016). "Marvin Rees elected as new mayor of Bristol". Bristol 24/7. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Labour's Marvin Rees has been elected as Bristol city's mayor", BBC News, Bristol, 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Bristol mayor Marvin Rees to cut 1,000 council jobs". BBC News. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ Steven Morris, "Bristol chooses Labour's Marvin Rees as new mayor over George Ferguson", The Guardian, 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Who is mayor Marvin?". Bristol24/7. 5 May 2016.
- ^ Ian Onions, "Labour's Marvin Rees wins election to become Bristol's next mayor", Bristol Post, 7 May 2016.