Daily Archives: Wednesday, August 13, 2025

The West of England Combined Authority – usually abbreviated to WECA – was established in February 2017 and covers the local authorities of Bristol City Council, Bath & NE Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The decision to establish WECA – after being proposed by central government – was one taken by the local authorities involved. There was neither consultation of the residents concerned, nor a referendum of the relevant electorates to seek their approval. Your ‘umble scribe therefore regards its democratic legitimacy as dubious.

The first election for the mayor of the new authority was held on 4th May 2017. It was won by South Gloucestershire Conservative politician Tim Bowles, a man who shunned publicity so much he was known by some in local social media circles as Invisible Tim.

The invisibility of the WECA mayor all changed when the next incumbent arrived in 2021, Labour’s Dan Norris. Norris so craved publicity he made great efforts to get his name in the media and in the public’s head so much that his efforts bordered on the narcissistic, leading your correspondent to refer to Norris in social media posts as Dan, Dan the Vanity Man. Indeed, it could be said that Norris would have attended the opening of an envelope if a press photographer was present to record the event.

Norris was renowned for two acts of self-promotion during his term of office, both involving buses. Firstly, his name appeared on posters on every bus stop in the WECA area, but more on that topic later. Secondly, not content with getting his name of every bus stop in the district, Norris decided he ought to be on the side of a bus as well, purporting to promote driving a bus for a living and advertise a free bus travel scheme, but actually a chance to get likenesses of a vain man and his dog on the side of a double-decker. WECA spent £10,000 on this sycophantic stunt that was ultimately ruled to have been spent ‘unlawfully’.

Norris’ term as WECA mayor ended in disgrace. He became an MP and was for the last part of his term of office Dan ‘Two Jobs’ Norris. In April 2025 Dan, Dan the Vanity Man was arrested by Avon and Somerset Police on suspicion of rape, child sex offences, child abduction and misconduct in public office.

Continuity vanity

In May Norris’ term of office ended. His replacement is Helen Godwin, who has been involved in local politics since 2016, according to her Wikipedia entry.

However, very little has changed with the change of incumbent. There’s still a free bus travel scheme (but for children of school age. Ed.) and the bus stop posters now feature Godwin’s name instead of her predecessor’s.

One might believe on the strength of the above evidence that something is seriously amiss in the West of England Combined Authority. For the last four years and for the foreseeable future, the authority seems to be in the grip of what is normally referred to as the cult of personality.

Wikipedia defines the cult of personality as follows:

A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, is the result of an effort which is made to create an idealized and heroic image of an admirable leader, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Historically, it has been developed through techniques such as the manipulation of the mass media, the dissemination of propaganda, the staging of spectacles, the manipulation of the arts, the instilling of patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations and rallies.

In addition to obvious examples like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Argentina’s Juan Peron, the cult of personality has over the centuries affected countries spanning the entire alphabet from Albania to Zimbabwe. It is currently flourishing in the United States where his MAGA lout supporters think Donald John Trump, the disgraced former 45th president and current disgraceful 47th president of the United States of America, insurrectionist in chief, convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, business fraudster, congenital liar and golf cheat, can do no wrong.

In 1988 the US band Living Colour released a single, The Cult of Personality off their debut album Vivid. Taling about the single, band member Vernon Reid stated; “The whole idea was to move past the duality of: That’s a good person and that’s a bad person. What do the good and the bad have in common? Is there something that unites Gandhi and Mussolini? Why are they who they are? And part of it is charisma.“. Reid also remarked: “‘Cult of Personality’ was about celebrity, but on a political level. It asked what made us follow these individuals who were larger than life yet still human beings.“