Mark Joseph Meredith 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, being 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 as a member of the national committee, representing the West Midlands, of the Labour Party's youth section, the Labour Party Young Socialists prior to its disbandment at the 1987 Labour Party Conference. He also worked for several years during this time as a youth organiser for the Militant tendency. A local businessman in the Stoke-on-Trent town of Hanley since 1991, he was selected as the Mayoral Labour candidate in December 2004, defeating four others to win the Labour nomination.
2005 Mayoral election
In the mayoral election of 5 May 2005, Meredith polled ahead of the Conservative candidate Roger Ibbs in second place, Mike Wolfe, a BNP candidate and three other non-aligned independents.
Time as Mayor
He concentrated much of his efforts to 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 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' executive arrangement. Democracy4Stoke campaigned ‘yes’: to replace the system with a ‘Council Leader and Cabinet’ system. ‘People’s Choice’ campaigned for a ‘no’ vote, i.e. for an ‘Elected Mayor and Cabinet’. After the referendum on 23 October 2008 the position of Elected Mayor in Stoke was abolished after a vote of 21,231 for 'Yes', and 14,592 for 'No'. The referendum question was: "Are you in favour of the proposal for Stoke-on-Trent City Council to be run in a new way, which includes a councillor, who will be elected by the councillors of Stoke-on-Trent to lead the council and the community which it serves?" The turnout was 19.23%. The result of the referendum was put into place on 5 June 2009 when Meredith's term of office ended, and 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. High ranking local Conservative Party councillor Roger Ibbs was also 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, 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 no further proceedings in the case were being made and that all charges against Ibbs were being dropped; Meredith having never been formally charged. They disclosed that there was insufficient evidence to support any case for corruption against any of the men involved.
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's central government. A dual seat ward, he topped the polls with 1,145 votes, with unaffiliated candidate Paul Breeze also being elected.
