History of Bristol City Council

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Bristol City Council is a unitary authority and ceremonial county in England. Originally formed on 1 April 1974 as a non-metropolitan district as a result of the Local Government Act 1972 (with initial elections taking place in 1973). It was envisaged that Bristol would share power with Avon County Council, an arrangement that lasted until 1996 when it was made into a unitary authority by the Local Government Commission for England, which abolished the county of Avon and gave Bristol City Council control of Avon Council's responsibilities.

Contents

Since 2012 Bristol has had a directly elected mayor, who acts as an executive branch separate from elected councillors.

Elected mayors

The position of mayor of Bristol was created following the English mayoral referendum on 4 May 2012, in which Bristol was the only city to vote in favour of introducing an elected mayor. The first mayoral election was held in November, being won by George Ferguson.

YearPartyMayor
May 2016–present Labour Marvin Rees
November 2012 – May 2016 Independent (as Bristol 1st) George Ferguson

Council control

From 2016 all councillors are elected every four years. Prior to that, a third of the councillors were elected every year. [1] [2]

A single party must occupy more than half of the councillor seats to have control. It is possible for a party to control the council without a majority, such as when Labour councillors dissolved their coalition with the Liberal Democrats in February 2009, leaving the Liberal Democrats to form a minority leadership. [3]

YearControlling partyNotes
2021–present No Overall Control Directly elected mayor - Labour
2016–2021 Labour Directly elected mayor - Labour
2011–2016 No Overall Control Directly elected mayor 2012-2016 - independent
2009–2011 Liberal Democrats
2003–2009 No Overall Control
1986–2003 Labour Council changed to a unitary authority in 1995.
1983–1986 No Overall Control
1973–1983 Labour

Council composition

Year Labour Conservative Lib Dems Green UKIP Independent Notes
December 202323145253Zoe Goodman (Filwood) resigned from Labour over its response to what she called "the genocide in Gaza", becoming an Independent councillor. [4]
February 202324145252Green Party candidate Patrick McAllister wins the Hotwells and Harbourside by-election following the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Alex Hartley. [5]
December 202124146242Chris Davies and Gary Hopkins (both Knowle) leave the Liberal Democrats and create the Knowle Community Party. [6]
May 2021 2414824
23 March 20213514912Jo Sergeant (Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston) joins the Green Party. [7]
12 March 202135149111Jo Sergeant (Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston) resigns from the Labour Party. [8]
26 September 20193614911Tony Carey (Brislington East) joins the Liberal Democrats. [9]
29 August 201936148111Sultan Khan (Eastville) joins the Liberal Democrats. [10]
17 July 201936147112Tony Carey (Brislington East) resigns from the Conservative Party and sits as an independent. [11]
22 March 201936157111Sultan Khan (Eastville) resigns from the Labour Party and sits as an independent. [12]
24 May 20183715711Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze by-election.
1 November 20163714811The Labour Party lifts the suspensions of Harriet Bradley (Brislington West) and Mike Langley (Brislington East). [13] Hibaq Jama (Lawrence Hill) is also unsuspended at a later date.
19 September 201634148113The Labour Party suspends Mike Langley (Brislington East) and Hibaq Jama (Lawrence Hill). [14]
8 September 201636148111The Labour Party suspends Harriet Bradley (Brislington West). [15]
May 2016 3714811Ward boundaries changed. [1] [2]
21 May 201530169141Fi Hance (Redland) defected from the Liberal Democrats to the Green Party. [16]
7 May 2015 301610131
March 201531161661Jason Budd (Kingsweston), formerly independent, joined the Conservative Party. [17]
May 2014 311516611
May 2013 28142341
September 20112214322Southmead by-election.
May 2011 2114332
May 2010 1714381
May 2009 1617361
October 20082413321St George West by-election triggered due to the death of one of the sitting councillors.
May 2007 2513311
May 2006 2313331
May 2005 271132
May 2004311128Lawrence Hill by-election.
May 2003 311128
May 2002 361024
June 2001 40921
October 2000361024Southville by-election.
February 2000361024Lockleaze by-election.
May 1999 371023Ward boundaries changed. Number of seats available increased from 68 to 70. [18]
June 199845617Ashley by-election.
May 1998 46616
March 199850513Cabot by-election.
June 199750513Brislington West by-election.
May 1997 51512
May 1995 5369Council changed from a non-metropolitan district to a unitary authority.
May 1994 41198
May 1992 40226
May 1991 45185
May 1990 43214
May 1988 39245
May 1987 37256
May 1986 35267
May 1984 33296City boundaries were changed but the number of seats stayed the same. [19]
May 1983 30326Ward boundaries changed. Number of seats available decreased from 84 to 68. [20]
May 1979 53283
May 1976 47343
June 1973 56253Formation of the Bristol non-metropolitan district, with 84 available seats.

Council election result maps

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Bristol all-out council elections approved by councillors". BBC News. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 legislation.gov.uk – The Bristol (Electoral Changes) Order 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lib Dems take over Bristol City Council". Bristol Evening Post . 24 February 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Booth, Martin (13 December 2023). "LABOUR COUNCILLOR RESIGNS OVER PARTY'S PALESTINE POLICY". Bristol24/7 . Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "By-election Hotwells and Harbourside". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  6. ↑ Booth, Martin (13 December 2021). "Longstanding Lib Dem Councillors' resignations throw party into turmoil". Bristol24-7 . Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  7. ↑ Cameron, Amanda (23 March 2021). "Bristol councillor joins Greens after quitting Labour in scathing attack". Bristol Live . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Sergeant, Jo [@joshop68] (12 March 2021). "I had to think carefully about publishing this but decided on balance it was the right thing to do. It's about my experience as a member of the Labour Party and as a member of the Bristol Labour Group of councillors. It's a bit of a long read - don't say you weren't warned!" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 May 2021– via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Bristol Lib Dems (26 September 2019). "Councillor Tony Carey Joins the Lib Dem Team" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Bristol Lib Dems (29 August 2019). "Councillor Sultan Khan Joins Lib Dem Team" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Trevena, Lowie (19 July 2019). "Brislington East councillor resigns from Tory party". Bristol 24/7 . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Kate (26 March 2019). "Labour calls on Bristol councillor to resign and trigger by-election after quitting party" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Emanuel, Louis (1 November 2016). "All but one Labour suspension lifted" . Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  14. ↑ Emanuel, Louis (19 September 2016). "Two more Labour councillors suspended" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Emanuel, Louis (12 September 2016). "Labour councillor 'in the dark' over suspension" . Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ↑ Emanuel, Louis (22 May 2015). "Greens gain a councillor as Lib Dem defects". Bristol 24/7. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Onions, Ian (12 March 2015). "Bristol's only Independent councillor joins Tories". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  18. ↑ legislation.gov.uk – The City of Bristol (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  19. ↑ The Bristol, Wansdyke and Woodspring (Areas) Order 1984
  20. ↑ The City of Bristol (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980
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