David Stuart Hodgson MBE (born 21 October 1959) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the directly elected mayor of the

Borough of Bedford Bedford, or the Borough of Bedford, is a Districts of England, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Bedford Borough Council, ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, from 2009 to 2023. Hodgson was 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Hodgson was elected to office in a by-election held on 15 October 2009, following the death of previous mayor, Frank Branston. He lost his Mayoralty in the May 2023 local elections.

Early life and career

Hodgson has lived in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

since he was nine years old. He attended Mark Rutherford School, where his father was headmaster. Attaining a degree in

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

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 ...

, Hodgson's career outside politics has included IT, lecturing 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, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The town of Bedford was a borough from at least the 12th century until 1974, when the moder ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to local government. In May 2023, Hodgson lost his re-election bid for the Mayoralty. He received 15,602 votes versus his opponent Tom Wootton's 15,747 votes.

Personal life

Hodgson lives in the Kingsbrook area of

with his wife, Christine who previously stood as Mayor of Bedford in both 2002 and 2007. His interests and pursuits include

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

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

, and watching

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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