Marvin Rees is the Mayor of Bristol. He studied at Swansea University for his BSc Econ in Economic History and afterwards for his MA in Politics, graduating in 1994.
His working life began at Tearfund, before working with Sojourners in Washington, DC and President Clinton’s advisor, Dr Tony Campolo. On returning to the UK, he was a broadcast journalist at BBC Bristol, worked at the Black Development Agency supporting the BME-led voluntary sector and worked on delivering race equality in mental health services with NHS Bristol’s Public Health team.
He holds two Master’s Degrees in Political Theory and Government and in Global Economic Development. He is a Yale World Fellow and a graduate of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. He entered the political world having graduated from Operation Black Vote and Labour Future Candidate programmes.
Marvin Rees was first elected Mayor in May 2016 and was re-elected in May 2021. He is the first person of Black African heritage to become a directly elected Mayor of a Major European city.
During his first term in office, he delivered almost 9,000 homes, announced the development of a mass transit system, provided quality work experience for over 3,500 children, developed the One City Plan, successfully bid to bring Channel 4 to Bristol and is leading the city’s response to both the climate and ecological emergencies. In 2022, he gave a TED talk about the role of cities in tackling the climate crisis.
He is also Chair of Core Cities UK, Chair of LGA City Regions board, Co-Chair of Urban Futures Commission, founding Member of the Mayor’s Migration Council, Leading Member of the Global Parliament of Mayors, and Member of the Advisory Panel for the Work Foundation, to name a few.