The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston,Massachusetts,United States. It is made up of 13 members:9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no limit on the number of terms an individual can serve. Boston uses a strong-mayor form of government in which the city council acts as a check against the power of the executive branch,the mayor. The council is responsible for approving the city budget;monitoring,creating,and abolishing city agencies;making land use decisions;and approving,amending,or rejecting other legislative proposals.
Ayanna Soyini Pressley is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston,most of Cambridge,parts of Milton,as well as all of Chelsea,Everett,Randolph,and Somerville. Before serving in the United States House of Representatives,Pressley served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council from 2010 through 2019. She was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2018 after she defeated the ten-term incumbent Mike Capuano in the Democratic primary election for Massachusetts' 7th congressional district and ran unopposed in the general election. Pressley was the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council and the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Pressley is a member of "The Squad",a group of progressive Congress members.
Michelle Wu is an American politician serving as the mayor of Boston,Massachusetts,since 2021. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants,she was the first Asian American woman to serve on the Boston City Council,from 2014 to 2021,and acted as its president from 2016–2018. She is the first woman and first non-white person to have been elected mayor of Boston. At 36 years of age,she is also the youngest individual to have been elected to the position in nearly a century. Wu is a member of the Democratic Party.
Andrea Joy Campbell is an American lawyer and politician who is serving as the attorney general of Massachusetts. Campbell is a former member of the Boston City Council. On the city council,she represented District 4,which includes parts of Boston's Dorchester,Mattapan,Jamaica Plain,and Roslindale neighborhoods. A member of the Democratic Party,she was first elected to the council in November 2015 and assumed office in January 2016. She served as president of the council from January 2018 until January 2020. Campbell unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 2021,placing third in the nonpartisan primary election behind Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu,the latter of whom would go on to win the general election.
Lydia Marie Edwards is an American attorney and politician. She served as a member of the Boston City Council from the 1st district from 2018 to 2022 and has served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate from the 1st Suffolk and Middlesex district since 2022. She resigned from the Boston City Council at the end of April 2022.
Kim Michelle Janey is an American politician and community organizer who served as acting mayor of Boston for eight months in 2021. She served as president of the Boston City Council from 2020 to 2022,and as a member of the council from the 7th district from 2018 to 2022. As a black woman,her tenure as acting mayor made her the first woman and the first person of color to lead the city.
Frank Baker is an American politician who represents District 3 on the Boston City Council. He was first elected on November 8,2011.
Elizabeth A. "Liz" Breadon is a Democratic member of the Boston City Council who serves the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods of Boston,Massachusetts. Having emigrated from Northern Ireland,she was the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to Boston City Council.
Julia Mejia is an At-Large City Councilor in Boston,Massachusetts. Elected in 2019,Mejia is the first Latina elected to the council.
The 2021 Boston City Council election was held on November 2,2021. All thirteen councillors from the nine districts and four councillors at-large were up for election. Elections in Boston are officially nonpartisan.
Ruthzee Louijeune is an American politician and lawyer serving as president of the Boston City Council. She has been an at-large member of the Boston City Council since January 2022,and has served as the council's president since January 2024. She is the first Haitian-American to serve on the council.
Ricardo N. Arroyo is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Massachusetts. He was previously a member of the Boston City Council.
Kendra Lara,also known as Kendra Hicks,is a politician. She previously served on the Boston City Council for the 6th district and is a member of the Democratic party. Lara is a socialist.
On 16 September 2022,22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini,also known as Jina Amini,died in a hospital in Tehran,Iran,under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol,the religious morality police of Iran's government,arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station,collapsed,and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However,eyewitnesses,including women who were detained with Amini,reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality,which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality,in addition to leaked medical scans,led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.
Edward M. Flynn is an American politician currently serving on the Boston City Council,representing the city's 2nd district. He has held his seat since January 2017. From January 2022 until January 2024,he served as president of the Boston City Council. He is the son of former Boston mayor Raymond Flynn.
Michelle Wu has served as mayor of Boston,Massachusetts since November 2021. Wu was elected mayor in 2021,winning with 64% of the vote,becoming the first woman,first person of color,and first Asian American elected to serve as the mayor of Boston. At 36 years of age,was also the youngest individual elected to the office in nearly a century. Wu is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to being sworn in as mayor,Wu served as a member of the Boston City Council
Sharon Durkan is an American politician and political consultant currently serving as a member of the Boston City Council,representing its 8th district. She has held that office since August 2023.
The 2025 Boston mayoral election will be held on Tuesday,November 4,2025,to elect the mayor of Boston,Massachusetts. Incumbent mayor Michelle Wu will be eligible to seek a second term.
Erin J. Murphy is an American politician and educator who has served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council since December 2021. Murphy is a Democrat,and is considered one of the more politically moderate members of the council. She is running in the 2024 election for the clerkship of the Supreme Judicial Court of Suffolk County.
