Mayor spent £10,000 of taxpayers’ cash on giant bus posters of him with his dog

A mayor spent £10,000 of taxpayers’ cash plastering giant posters of himself and his dog on a double decker bus in a bid to win over voters, a report has revealed.

Former Labour MP Dan Norris – elected metro mayor of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) – approved using the money for an advertising campaign promoting free bus travel.

But an internal probe likened the promotion to a ‘political campaign bus seeking to influence voters’.

A cosmetic decal, known as a livery or wrap, featuring Mr Norris with his dog, Angel, was intended to cover the bus to promote his Birthday Buses scheme, offering passengers free travel on the month they were born.

One picture was 3m high while a second was 2m and a third measured 1m.

Mr Norris, elected metro mayor in May 2021 after serving as MP for Wansdyke from 1997 and 2010, approved the spending in April this year.

But the wrap was never shown publicly after the interim chief executive of WECA– which covers Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire – expressed concerns it was personally promoting Mr Norris.

However, ‘direct and explicit’ instructions that the launch event, on May 23, should be cancelled were ignored, the report said.

An internal report was commissioned in the wake of the blunder, to examine how the spending was authorised.  

The report said the imagery appeared to ‘explicitly seek to affect public support of the metro mayor’.

‘It seems the promotion of the bus service improvement plan is incidental to the promotion of the metro mayor himself.

‘The bus wrap is reminiscent of political campaign buses which exist to serve the explicit purpose of seeking to influence voters.’

Images of Mr Norris appear to have been used as a ‘personal brand or motif’, appearing prominently in articles as well as campaigning platforms and on social media.  

A ‘emergency’ meeting of the WECA committee is due to take place on December 1 to discuss the outcome of the report.

The meeting is being called to ‘report the unlawful expenditure of £10,000’, BristolLive reports.

The committee will also be asked if it wishes to take any action as a result of the report.

It includes leaders of the South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils, together with Bristol’s directly-elected mayor and Mr Norris.

Mr Norris will not be present when the report is discussed.

The metro mayor revealed he was ‘disappointed’ by the report findings.

‘I regret any errors made and I will reflect on them,’ he said.

‘But I make no apologies for offering free bus travel for a whole month for tens of thousands of people in Bristol – and for ensuring residents know it’s available,’ he added.

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