Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says Bedford's mayor is doing a 'fantastic job' as he visits Stewartby

Bedford mayor Dave Hodgson hosted the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, at a Stewartby business this afternoon (Friday, March 3).

They were visiting EVIOS, a start-up business that employs around 60 local people to manufacture domestic charge points for electric vehicles.

Sir Ed Davey said: “I’m here to support one of the best mayors in the whole country, Dave Hodgson.

“Mayor Dave is doing a fantastic job here in Bedford and he’s up for re-election.

“It’s a fight between him and the Conservatives here, but he’s got such a great record.

“Whether it’s bringing jobs and we’re in a new factory that he opened just a little while ago.

“It’s great because [this company is] about green technology, it’s about electric vehicle chargers.

“It’s the sort of thing that he’s been promoting to make sure that the economy of Bedford is strong, so people have got jobs and good jobs.

The LibDem leader added that “101 things” mark out Dave Hodgson as a “great mayor”.

“His climate change policies, for example, are really great to me,” he said.

“He’s got a solar farm developed here, bringing green technology businesses, but also on the social side.

“He’s made sure that the most vulnerable, whether they’re disabled, people on low incomes, elderly people, get some real help in this cost of living crisis.

“So he thinks about the whole community, wherever you are, whether in the rural areas or in the urban area,” he said.