Edward Colston’s statue may be down, but the Bristol mayor has a lot of work to do

Marvin Rees says that, as a high-profile black politician, he is being ‘boxed in’ as the Black Lives Matter campaign threatens to overtake other important duties, Janet Street-Porter writes

Marvin Rees is the first directly elected black mayor in the UK (AP)

I’m impressed by the mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, the first directly elected black mayor in the UK.

When demonstrators recently tore down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it in the docks, the mayor (who might have sympathised as his ancestors hailed from Jamaica) had it hauled out and sent it to be restored. It may go eventually on display in a museum, if that’s what locals want.

Rees has set up a commission to help Bristol’s residents “understand its full city history” and they will be consulted about what might fill the empty plinth – but it’s already causing more controversy, with vandals desecrating the grave of an enslaved African man in the city.