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Geoff Gollop

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Geoff Gollop
OBE
Deputy Mayor of Bristol
In office
2012–2016
LeaderGeorge Ferguson
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byCraig Cheney (Finance, Governance and Performance)[1]
Asher Craig (Communities, Events and Equalities)
Lord Mayor of Bristol
In office
2011–2011[2]
Preceded byColin Smith
Succeeded byPeter Main
Deputy Lord Mayor of Bristol
In office
2012–2012[2]
LeaderPeter Main
Preceded byColin Smith
Succeeded byPeter Main
Councillor for Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze
Incumbent
Assumed office
2001[3]
Personal details
Born
Geoffrey Richard Gollop

(1955-02-23) 23 February 1955 (age 69)
Political partyConservative (since 1973)
SpouseBernice (m. 1990 or 1991)
Children2
Alma materClifton College
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
ProfessionAccountant
politician

Geoffrey Richard Gollop, OBE[4][5] (born 23 February 1955)[5] is a British Conservative politician. He was a councillor on Bristol City Council from 2001 to 2024 and deputy mayor of Bristol from 2012 to 2016. He stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for the first directly elected mayor of Bristol in 2012.[6]

Personal life

[edit]

Gollop was born at Bristol Maternity Hospital and has lived his entire life in Bristol, having been brought up in Henbury, where he attended Blaise Primary School.[5] He then attended Clifton College, and after that went up to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Thereafter he trained in accounting, became a Chartered Accountant and worked in accounting firms, before being made redundant and setting up his own business.[7] Geoff Gollop & Co merged with accounting firm Milsted Langdon in 2013, with Gollop joining the latter as a director.[8]

Gollop is married to Bernice and has two children, Mark and Hermione. He is a Methodist and supports Bristol Rovers F.C. and Bristol City F.C.[7] His other interests include musical theatre and travel.[5] He joined the Conservative Party in 1973. He is a former school governor of Henbury School and Henleaze Junior School, and a former church warden of St Mary's Church, Henbury.[5]

Political career

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Gollop was inspired to enter local politics by the issue of secondary education[9] and by his father Philip, a former Councillor for the Henbury ward.[10]

Gollop was first elected as a Conservative Councillor on Bristol City Council in the June 2001 local election, representing the Westbury-on-Trym ward.[3] He was re-elected several times, representing Westbury-on-Trym and later the Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze ward, until losing the ward to the Liberal Democrats in the May 2024 local election.[11]

In 2011-12, Gollop served in the ceremonial role of lord mayor of Bristol,[12] and in 2012-13 he served as the deputy lord mayor.

In November 2011, Gollop was the victim of an arson attack on his car, for which the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility.[13]

On 7 August 2012, he was selected to be the Conservative candidate for the first directly elected mayor of Bristol, having defeated former three-time lord mayor and Bristol City Council's Conservative group leader, Peter Abraham, and former councillor, Barbara Lewis. Receiving support from the mayor of London, Boris Johnson,[14] Gollop campaigned on transport, education, inequality and Council culture.[15] His specific policies included a freeze or reduction in Council Tax, lower fares on public transport, and business rates relief for independent shops.[16] In the election on 15 November, Gollop lost to independent candidate George Ferguson, coming third, with 9.13% of the first-preference votes, behind Ferguson and the Labour Party candidate Marvin Rees. Gollop attributed the result to "a real disillusionment with party politics".[17]

After the election, Mayor Ferguson assembled a "rainbow cabinet" of councillors from several parties, appointing Gollop as his deputy mayor and cabinet member with responsibility for finance and corporate services.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "The Mayor and Cabinet". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Cllr Geoff Gollop chosen as Conservative candidate for directly elected Mayor of Bristol". Conservative Home. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Bristol City Council Election Results for 7 Jun 2001". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Subject gatherings" Archived 12 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. March 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e "City and County of Bristol: The Lord Mayor of Bristol 2011 – 2012" Archived 10 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Bristol City Council. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Conservative party names Geoff Gollop as Bristol mayor candidate". BBC News. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  7. ^ a b "PROFILE: Geoff Gollop – "I'll be a safe pair of hands"". Bristol Post. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  8. ^ Sweet, Pat. "Milsted Langdon merges firm with Geoff Gollop & Co". Accountancy Live. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Why Geoff Gollop?" Archived 13 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Geoff Gollop. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  10. ^ "About Geoff" Archived 12 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Geoff Gollop. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Bristol Local Elections 2024".
  12. ^ bristollordmayor. "Mayor making meeting 17/05/11". Flickr. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Bristol arson attack linked to anarchist terror network". Channel 4 News. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  14. ^ Muir, Hugh. "Boris Johnson and the politician's awkward moment: six of the best". The Guardian. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  15. ^ "Conservatives announce their mayoral candidate" Archived 12 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Bristol Post. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  16. ^ "Bristol mayoral race: Geoff Gollop makes tax pledge". BBC News. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  17. ^ Murray Brown, John. "Plan comes together for Bristol's new mayor". The Financial Times. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  18. ^ "The Cabinet – who's involved and how it works" Archived 12 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Bristol City Council. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  19. ^ "Bristol Mayor George Ferguson unveils his "rainbow cabinet"". Bristol Post. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
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