Dan Norris, the Metro Mayor for the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and former Labour MP, has come under scrutiny for spending £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on a bus advertisement prominently featuring himself and his dog. The expenditure was intended to promote a free bus travel scheme in the region.
The advertisement, which was never publicly displayed, featured three large images of Mayor Norris with his dog, Angel. Two pictures were on either side of the double-decker bus, and a third image was on the rear. The campaign aimed to promote a scheme offering free travel during individuals’ birthday month.
However, the local authority’s interim chief executive intervened and halted the advertisement, fearing it was more about personal promotion than the travel scheme. A subsequent report criticized the spending as “unlawfully spent wrapping the bus,” highlighting that the images of the mayor and his dog were excessively large, overshadowing the intended promotion of the bus service improvement plan.
The report further noted that the bus wrap seemed to explicitly seek to affect public support for the metro mayor, with the promotion of the bus service appearing incidental. It drew parallels to political campaign buses, which are designed to influence voters. The use of Mayor Norris’s dog, a recurring motif in his political campaigns, further fueled concerns about the personal branding nature of the advertisement.
The WECA is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on December 1 to discuss the report’s findings. The committee, comprising leaders from South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset councils, Bristol’s directly-elected mayor, and Mr. Norris (who will not be present during the discussion), will decide on any consequent actions.
Dan Norris, elected as mayor in 2021, previously served as an MP for Wansdyke from 1997 to 2010. The incident has raised questions about the appropriate use of public funds and the thin line between public service promotion and personal political branding.
