Bristol City Council


Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 35 wards, electing a total of 70 councillors.

History

The council was formed by the Local Government Act 1972. It was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the non-metropolitan district of Bristol on 1 April 1974.
It was envisaged through the Local Government Act 1972 that Bristol as a non-metropolitan district council would share power with the Avon County Council. This arrangement lasted until 1996 when Avon County Council was abolished and Bristol City Council gained responsibility for services that had been provided by the county council.

Political composition

Mayor

The mayor of Bristol following the 2016 mayoral election is Marvin Rees for the Labour Party. Rees had previously ran in the first Bristol mayoral election, coming second place to the independent George Ferguson.

Councillors

Following the 2016 local elections the Labour Party secured an overall majority, gaining the council from no overall control, the first time that Labour has overall control of Bristol City Council since 2003.

Current councillors