Dave Hodgson

Background

Hodgson first lived in Bedford from when he was nine years old, and he attended Mark Rutherford School, where his father was headmaster.

Career

Hodgson was elected to office in a by-election held on October 15, 2009, following the death of previous mayor, Frank Branston. Hodgson was elected to Bedford Borough Council in 2002, representing Kingsbrook. After the 2009 local elections, Hodgson became leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, and was also appointed an executive member with the Portfolio for Partnerships & Information Technology by the mayor, Frank Branston.

After the death of Branston in August 2009, Hodgson was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the mayoral by-election which was held on October 15, 2009.

Hodgson gained 9,428 votes in the first round of the election, to his nearest opponent"s 9,105. In May 2015, he was elected mayor a third time, with 25,282 first-round votes, with Conservative Jas Parmar polling 19,417.

With the low-ranked candidates eliminated and second-preference votes taken into account Hodgson had 35,302 compared to his opponent"s 26,513, a majority of 8,789.

Achievements

• Attaining a degree in Computing and Business, Hodgson"s career outside politics has included Information Technology, lecturing and operating his own secretarial services business. In the second round he gained a further 4,127 votes, and was declared winner. In May 2011, he was re-elected mayor for a second term, winning 19,966 in the first round to his opponent"s 17,501, and then gained a further 4,325 in the second round to win by a majority of 4,966.

Politics

Hodgson is the second elected mayor to represent the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom.