Marvin Rees

Marvin Rees was raised in Bristol by his white British mother, moving between the St Pauls, Lawrence Weston and Easton areas of the city during a childhood shaped by economic hardship. He began his career with Tearfund, an international development agency, before working in the United States with the social justice organisation Sojourners, an experience that sharpened his focus on poverty, faith and systemic change.

Returning to Bristol, Rees worked as a broadcast journalist with BBC Bristol, with the Black Development Agency supporting the city's Black and minority ethnic voluntary sector, and with NHS Bristol on reducing racial inequality in mental health services. He completed graduate studies in political theory and global economic development, and later a fellowship at Yale, building the academic and professional foundation for a career in public leadership.

After an unsuccessful first attempt to become Mayor of Bristol in 2012, Rees ran again in 2016 and was elected, becoming the first person of Black African heritage to lead a major European city. His two terms in office, from 2016 to 2024, included delivering over 14,000 new homes, leading the Temple Quarter regeneration project, and launching Bristol City Leap, a landmark public-private partnership to decarbonise the city's energy system.

Rees's tenure also placed him at the centre of national attention in 2020, when Black Lives Matter protesters tore down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston during his time in office. After leaving the mayoralty when Bristol abolished its directly elected mayoral system, Rees was created a life peer in February 2025, continuing his advocacy for cities, migration and climate action on the global stage.