What each candidate said after Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election result
Mayoral results were announced on Friday, May 2
Conservative candidate Paul Bristow was elected mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on Friday, May 2.
Mr Bristow, the former Peterborough MP, won the election with 60,243 votes, beating Ryan Coogan of Reform 49,647, Lorna Dupre of Liberal Democrats 41,611, Bob Ensch of the Green Party 18,255 and Anna Smith of Labour 42,671.
Just 26.09% of the electorate turned out to vote in Peterborough, with Mr Bristow winning 15,769 of these votes, followed by Ryan Coogan of Reform UK with 9,221.
Here is what each of the unsuccessful candidates, apart from Green Party’s Bob Ensch who was not present, had to say following the election result being announced at the Ross Peers Sports Centre in Soham:
Ryan Coogan
Reform UK candidate Ryan Coogan congratulated Mr Bristow on his win. He said: “Hats off to him. He beat us fair and square in this election.”
He added: “With Reform being second, we are the official opposition to the mayoral candidacy here in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and we will certainly be holding the manifesto to account.”
Mr Coogan thanked everyone involved in his campaign and said it was an “absolute pleasure” to take part.
He said: “Across the country, Reform is coming. Across the country, we have seen a phoenix rising and we will be here to hold all of the various parliamentary big guns to account in the coming years.
“You haven’t seen the last of Reform UK.”
Anna Smith
Labour candidate Anna Smith also congratulated Mr Bristow on his victory as well as all the other candidates for putting themselves forward.
She also thanked the election teams across the county, her voters, her team, her husband and parents.
She said: “I’m proud of my record at the combined authority. Helping to turn it around after a rocky start and delivering, in partnership, concrete achievements.
“Making my contribution to so many fantastic projects from ARU Peterborough to the Centre for Green Technology, from Chatteris Museum to Cambridge Bus Station.
“Saving a central bus route, introducing new ones, keeping the £2 bus fare cap, introducing the Tiger Pass, introducing pre-9.30 travel for concessionary passes and of course taking our buses back under public control.”
“I would’ve liked to have seen these things through and implemented my plan for change but I will always be proud of what I have contributed.”
Lorna Dupre
Liberal Democrat candidate Lorna Dupre began her speech thanking her partner and team.
She also thanked the residents of Cambrideshire and Peterborough that voted for her.
In a message to winner Paul Bristow, she said: “You have made a large number of very expensive promises to the population of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
“We’ll be watching carefully to see how you move forward in the coming months and years.”
She also addressed Reform candidate Ryan Coogan, saying they had “made a few gains, but not what they had hoped for”.
Ms Dupre also stated that the first past the post system “no longer stands up as the representative system of government”.
She said that Labour needs to “think again about electoral reform and a fair voting system”.
She signed off her speech saying: “Mr Bristow, good luck. You’re going to need it.”
Bob Ensch
Green party candidate Bob Ensch was not present for the speeches.