The first known reference to a Mayor of Bedford in England was in 1264.
Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, the mayor of Bedford came into office on 29 September. The first mayor of the reformed corporation came into office on 1 January 1836, and subsequent mayors on 9 November. After the Local Government Act, 1948, and the Local Government Act, 1972, the mayors from 1949 onwards came into office in May. The civic mayor was replaced by a directly elected mayor in 2002.
Since April 2009 the Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority, with the executive having the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county.
List of Mayors of Bedford
Civic mayors
Source: "Past Mayors" Bedford Borough Council
1393: William Brown, MP for Bedford, 1397
1414–15: John Kent, MP for Bedford, 1406
1416–17: John Kent
1429–30: John Frepurs, MP for Bedford, 1417 and 1427
1432–34: Thomas Hunt, MP for Bedford, 1420
1437–38: John Frepurs
1444–46: John Frepurs
1528–29: John Baker, MP for Bedford, 1529
1547–48: William Hall, MP for Bedford, 1554
1554–55: William Hall
1829–30: Sir William Long
1834–35: Dr. George Witt: head of Bedford Infirmary and a Fellow of the Royal Society. 1855–56: George Hurst 1856–57: William Wells Kilpin 1857–58: George Handscomb Miller 1858–62: John Howard 1862–63: Robert Couchman 1863–65: John Howard 1865–67: William Joseph Nash 1867–69: Thomas Tokelove Gray 1869–70: Augustus Edgar Burch 1870–71: John Richard Bull 1871–72: James Coombs 1872–73: Frederick Thomas Young 1873–75: George Hurst 1875–77: James Thomas Hobson 1877–78: John Usher Taylor 1878: George Hurst 1878–79: Thomas Gwyn Empy Elger 1879–80: John Elworthy Cutcliffe 1880–81: James Thomas Hobson 1881–82: James Woodward Hill 1882–83: Luke Cherry 1883–85: Joshua Hawkins 1885–86: Edwin Ransom 1886–87: George Hurst 1887–90: Joshua Hawkins 1891–92: James Coombs 1892–93: Frederick Augustus Blaydes 1893–95: George Wells 1895–96: Frederick Augustus Blaydes 1896–99: George Wells 1901-02: Geoffrey Howard 1902-03: Hedley Baxter, Conservative 2000–01: Hazel Mary Mitchell 2001–02: Pat Olney 2002: Judith Cunningham
Directly elected mayors
2002–09: Frank Branston (died in office) 2009–23: Dave Hodgson 2023–: Tom Wootton