David Stuart Hodgson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 21 October 1959) is the directly elected mayor of the Borough of Bedford in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Hodgson was elected to office in a by-election held on 15 October 2009, following the death of previous mayor, Frank Branston.

Early life and career

Hodgson has lived in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

since he was nine years old. He attended

Mark Rutherford School Mark Rutherford School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Bedford, England. The school is named in honour of the Bedford-born writer William Hale White (1831-1913), who used Mark Rutherford as a pseudonym. Mark Rutherford school ...

, where his father was headmaster. Attaining a degree in

Computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

and

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

, Hodgson's career outside politics has included IT,

lecturing A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

and operating his own secretarial services business.

Political career

Hodgson was elected to

Bedford Borough Council Bedford Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The executive of the council is the direct ...

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 and IT 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 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.Bedford Borough Council 2011 Mayoral Election
/ref> 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.Borough Council: Mayoral Election Results 2015
/ref> Hodgson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to local government.

Personal life

Hodgson lives in the Kingsbrook area of

with his wife, Christine. His interests and pursuits include

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and watching

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

with his wife.

References

External links

Mayoral election campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Dave Mayors of places in Bedfordshire Liberal Democrat (UK) elected mayors Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Living people People educated at Mark Rutherford School 1959 births Members of the Order of the British Empire