Liberal Democrat Dave Hodgson has been elected the new Mayor of Bedford at the Bedford Corn Exchange. Lib Dem Dave led the vote by just over 300 votes at the end of the 1st preference votes, and when second preference votes were redistributed, extended his majority to just over 2,000 votes over the Conservative candidate.After the bottom four candidates were eliminated and their 2nd preference votes redistributed, the final result was:

• Dave Hodgson (Liberal Democrat): 13555 votes
• Parvez Akhtar (Conservative): 11543 votes

In his acceptance speech, Dave Hodgson paid tribute to the past Mayor Frank Branston, and committed to working hard for Bedford. He said:“I’ll work every day to improve Bedford as much as we can. It’s down to work now.”