What was the Bristol bus boycott?
In the 1960s, there had long been disquiet amongst Bristol’s tiny Caribbean community about widespread job discrimination, especially on the buses. In 1963, Paul Stephenson, a youth worker of African and English origin, supported by a coterie of concerned West Indian acquaintances, decided to force the issue into the public arena. In April 1963, the well-spoken Stephenson rang the Bristol Omnibus Company to fix up a job interview for a young man he knew. Guy Bailey, he explained, was a Boy’s Brigade Officer, cricket club member, full-time warehouseman and part-time student. The company assured Stephenson that there were vacancies for someone of Bailey’s qualifications. He then rang the Company back and mentioned that Bailey was a West Indian and the interview was promptly cancelled. Stephenson went to see the company’s General Manager, Ian Patey, who affirmed that the company did indeed ban the employment of ‘coloured labour’ on the buses. With that admission, Stephenson went to the pr
