Mark Joseph Meredith (born 21 August 1965 in

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

) was the second and last directly elected mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in England. An openly gay man and former amateur boxer he was elected on 5 May 2005, for the Labour Party, and defeated incumbent independent Mike Wolfe. In March 2009, Meredith was arrested on suspicion of corruption in office, but was never charged. He returned to the City Council as a Councillor for the Birches Head and Central Forest Park ward at the 2011 local elections serving until his defeat in 2015. On 8 May it was confirmed that he had not been re-elected for his ward for another term of office and had been replaced by a candidate of the City Independent group in Stoke-on-Trent.

Political career

A member of the Labour Party since 1982, Meredith held posts at various levels of the Labour Party, including time representing the West Midlands as a member of the national committee of the Labour Party's youth section, the

Labour Party Young Socialists The Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) was the youth section of the Labour Party in Britain from 1965 until 1991. In the 1980s, it had around 600 branches, 2,000 delegates at its national conferences and published a monthly newspaper, ''Socia ...

(LPYS), before it was disbanded in 1987. He also worked for several years during this time as a youth organiser for the

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. According to Michael Crick, its politics were based on the t ...

. A local businessman in the Stoke-on-Trent town of

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

since 1991, he was selected as Labour's mayoral candidate in December 2004, defeating four others to win the nomination.

2005 Mayoral election

In the mayoral election of 5 May 2005 Meredith polled ahead of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

candidate Roger Ibbs, who was in second place, Mike Wolfe (independent), a BNP candidate and three non-aligned independents.

Time as Mayor

Meredith concentrated much of his efforts on bringing the City Council's long-term financial deficits under control. In July 2007 Meredith formed a de facto executive model for Stoke-on-Trent City Council of Mayor and Cabinet in all but name. This first move away from the Mayor and Council Manager model (the only one of its kind in England) was generally welcomed by most political groups represented on the council. The Council Executive was represented in its number from all three main political parties, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats.

October 2008 referendum

Stoke's second referendum was held after the government withdrew the option of Elected Mayor and Manager as an executive arrangement. Democracy4Stoke campaigned to replace the system with a Council Leader and Cabinet model. People's Choice campaigned for an Elected Mayor and Cabinet. In the referendum, held on 23 October 2008. 21,231 voted for a council leader and cabinet, and 14,592 for an elected mayor and cabinet. The turnout was 19.23%. As a result of the referendum the position of directly elected mayor was abolished as of 5 June 2009, when Meredith's term of office ended. The City Council elected a Council Leader, Conservative Ross Irving, to replace him.

Arrest

On 6 March 2009 Meredith was arrested on suspicion of corruption in office. A

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

councillor, Roger Ibbs, had been arrested a week earlier on the same charge. The police inquiry was focused on the city council's attempts to close the splash pool at Dimensions Leisure Centre, in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...

, the previous year. He resigned all of his political positions on 8 March 2009 with the investigation ongoing. On 7 July 2009 Staffordshire Police announced that they would proceed no further with the case, and that all charges against Ibbs were being dropped. Meredith had never been charged. There was insufficient evidence to support any case for corruption against either of the men.

Return to politics

Meredith ran for election in the council ward of Birches Head and Central Forest Park, motivated by the cutbacks announced by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

. A dual seat ward, he topped the polls with 1,145 votes (25.92%), with unaffiliated candidate Paul Breeze also being elected.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Mark 1965 births Living people Gay politicians Mayors of Stoke-on-Trent LGBT mayors of places in the United Kingdom People from Shelton, Staffordshire English LGBT politicians Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) mayors