Marie Bradburn reflects on an ‘empowering year’ as MK’s First Citizen and, as her term in office comes to a close, she tells MKFM’s Tom Johnston that she’s looking forward to continuing her work as a cycling ambassador.
From the tiny West Ireland village of Kilglass to the growing metropolis that is Milton Keynes, Marie Bradburn has taken it all in her stride.
And as she closes the door on her brilliant year as Mayor of Milton Keynes, the bicycle-loving councillor says she has had a wonderful time.
Irish-born Marie has had an eventful year, full of ups and downs, great joy and deep sadness. She has been a tireless campaigner for the city, its people, the business community and for cycling, particularly among the young.
She has achieved much but will probably be best remembered for her cycling campaigns, especially her support of Bikeability, the scheme that gets children trained and ready for riding a cycle on the road.
Speaking to MKFM earlier this week, Marie compared cycling to life, in terms of getting in the saddle early, and is working towards a programme that, she hopes, will reward children with tickets to see the MK Dons playing at Stadium MK, in return for completing their Bikeability training.
“You have to do certain things at a certain age,” she says. “It’s like riding a bike. You have to ride it early, otherwise, when you get older it’s terrible because you haven’t fallen off a bike at a young age and picked yourself up again.”
It was a fairly quick ride to the top of local politics for the mother of two who only became a Liberal Democrat councillor in 2016. She became Deputy Mayor in 2023 and Mayor last year. The Bradburn family are no strangers to local politics – husband Robin, who tragically died last September was also a LibDem councillor and daughter Kerrie has recently become Deputy Leader of the LibDem Group on MK City Council.
“There was a stage when the three of us were on the council together,” remembers Marie. “I think that was 2019. You can imagine what it was like sitting round the dinner table at our house.
“And when Robin passed, I really found out the enormous amount of work that he had done for people, within the community. You never realise how much people do for others. He used to go around silently, you know.
“I never even dreamed of being a councillor until 2016. I’m the least political person you could meet. I value everyone’s opinions and no matter what political party you are, you should always people first.
“My mother used to tell me: ‘If you can’t do a good turn, don’t do a bad one’ and I live my life like that.”
And as her 12 months as the city’s First Citizen comes to an end, Marie says she has enjoyed her year wearing the cherished Mayor’s chain.
“I went to Bradwell Abbey today, it was one of my last events and I was a bit emotional. The Moslem community, the Jewish community and the Christian community came together to have tea and cake so we could learn about each other’s cultures and respect each other, and it was nice to be included in that.
“I have enjoyed my year. It’s unfortunate that I had my bereavement, which was difficult for me. Robin died eight months ago, so I have managed eight months without him.”
When Robin died Marie only took two weeks off from her work.
“I took the first week off when he died because I had to get him home from Brighton and then the second week when we had the funeral,” says Marie. “It was either sink or swim. I either went to the bottom of the sea or I floated. And he certainly wouldn’t have wanted me to have sunk so I had to pick myself up and get paddling.”
Keeping busy helped Marie a little as she continued in her Mayoral year, and she has been invited to – and visited – hundreds of places around the city and throughout the surrounding towns and villages. She recently unveiled a mosaic at the region’s Blue Light Hub emergency centre.
“Yes, I’ve been to a lot of places but it’s like with the Blue Light Hub I thought it was important to see, as a resident, what it’s like,” she says.
“Unveiling the mosaic was very powerful for me. But when I say that I want you to understand I mean the actual involvement of the young people in making up that mosaic, the schools involved and the children.
“It’s empowering because I am seeing the community. That project was commissioned last October and the Community Foundation put money into it because it doesn’t come cheap, but a lot of effort is put in to get it right and getting the young people together because they are our future.
“I have always championed the young and I have always championed children in care and the care leavers.”
As well MK’s centre Marie has got out into the districts. Was it always her intention to get to the towns and villages?
“Well, I’m not just the Mayor of central Milton Keynes or even just where the council offices are. I’m the Mayor of the whole borough so that takes in Bletchley to Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands, Olney.
“Some of those places have local Mayors, but I am the Mayor of the whole borough so although it’s nice to be able to go to an event, you have to prioritise. If somewhere is having an event but already has a Mayor, I might go to somewhere that hasn’t.”
Marie admits she loves wearing the Mayoral chain and carries it with her everywhere. People gravitate towards her at events, and she’s expected to stand up and give addresses to crowded rooms. How does she handle that pressure?
“It is a challenge. I actually find paper a bit cumbersome, so I think you need to do your research on an organisation that has invited you. I’ve done a lot of speeches without notes and done them from the heart. But I’m relatively comfortable with public speaking.
“I’d rather speak from the heart and do my own thing. Most organisations know how good they are. They have invited me because I am the Mayor and I have a status and the chain. If you turn up and haven’t got the chain on, nobody knows who you are.
“You need to make sure you are respectful. People get bored if you go on and on. You need a few nuggets of interesting facts. Organisers need to feel special. They might have worked on those events for six months. If the Mayor is there, people will think ‘this event is really good’ and that’s what Milton Keynes is all about.
“Sometimes you meet people and it’s the first time they have ever met a Mayor. You sense they are in awe of you and that makes me feel uncomfortable which is why, if they ask for a photograph I put my arm around them, or I spend time with them, I always talk to them and I know that they want to hear me speak.”
Marie and her bike will certainly be fondly remembered around the city of Milton Keynes. But what would she like her legacy to be?
“I hope I have impacted the young people, and I hope they will say they went to the Mayor’s Parlour for some juice and a visit and remember me when they see me in a supermarket,” says the outgoing Mayor.
“I hope I have given them that as a Mayor. Take the person away, what did that chain enable me to do and impact those young people’s lives?”
