Bristol City council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards, with between one and three per ward serving four-year terms.
Councillors are elected in thirds, with elections held in three years out of every four-year period.
Thus, since wards do not have both councillors up for election at the same time, two-thirds of the wards participate in each election.
Although the council was long dominated by the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and (as the largest party) took minority control of the council after the 2005 United Kingdom general election.
In 2007, Labour and the Conservatives united to defeat the Liberal Democrat administration; Labour ruled the council as a minority administration, with Helen Holland as council leader.

In February 2009, the Labour group resigned and the Liberal Democrats re-entered office with a minority administration.
In the June 2009 council elections the Liberal Democrats gained four seats and, for the first time, overall control of the city council.
In 2010 they increased their representation to 38 seats, giving them a majority of 6.
In 2011, they lost their majority; leading to a hung council.
In the 2013 local elections, in which a third of the city's wards were up for election, Labour gained 7 seats and the Green Party doubled their seats from 2 to 4.
The Liberal Democrats lost 10 seats.

These trends were continued into the next election in May 2014, in which Labour gained three seats to take their total to 31, the Green Party won two more seats, the Conservative party gained one seat, and UKIP won their first-ever seat on the council.
The Liberal Democrats lost a further seven seats.

On 3 May 2012, Bristol held a referendum on the question of a directly elected mayor replacing one elected by the council.
There were 41,032 votes in favour of a directly elected mayor and 35,880 votes against, with a 24% turnout.
An election for the new post was held on 15 November 2012, and Independent candidate George Ferguson became Mayor of Bristol.

The Lord Mayor of Bristol, not to be confused with the Mayor of Bristol, is a figurehead elected each May by the city council.
Councillor Faruk Choudhury was selected by his fellow councillors for the position in 2013.
At 38, he was the youngest person to serve as Lord Mayor of Bristol and the first Muslim elected to the office.

Bristol constituencies in the House of Commons also included parts of other local authority areas until the 2010 general election, when their boundaries were aligned with the county boundary.
The city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North West.
At the 2017 general election, Labour won all four of the Bristol constituencies, gaining the Bristol North West seat, seven years after losing it to the Conservatives.

The city has a tradition of political activism.
Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years beginning in 1774, insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first and a representative of his constituents' interests second.
Women's-rights advocate Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was born in Bristol, and the left-winger Tony Benn served as MP for Bristol South East in 1950–1960 and again from 1963–83.
In 1963 the Bristol Bus Boycott, following the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to hire Black drivers and conductors, drove the passage of the UK's 1965 Race Relations Act.
The 1980 St. Pauls riot protested against racism and police harassment and showed mounting dissatisfaction with the socioeconomic circumstances of the city's Afro-Caribbean residents.
Local support of fair trade was recognised in 2005, when Bristol became a fairtrade zone.

Bristol is both a city and a county, since King Edward III granted it a county charter in 1373.
The county was expanded in 1835 to include suburbs such as Clifton, and it was named a county borough in 1889 when that designation was introduced.
Bristol City council consists of 70 councillors representing 35 wards, with between one and three per ward serving four-year terms. Councillors are elected in thirds, with elections held in three years out of every four-year period. Thus, since wards do not have both councillors up for election at the same time, two-thirds of the wards participate in each election. Although the council was long dominated by the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats have grown strong in the city and (as the largest party) took minority control of the council after the 2005 United Kingdom general election. In 2007, Labour and the Conservatives united to defeat the Liberal Democrat administration; Labour ruled the council as a minority administration, with Helen Holland as council leader.
In February 2009, the Labour group resigned and the Liberal Democrats re-entered office with a minority administration. In the June 2009 council elections the Liberal Democrats gained four seats and, for the first time, overall control of the city council. In 2010 they increased their representation to 38 seats, giving them a majority of 6. In 2011, they lost their majority; leading to a hung council. In the 2013 local elections, in which a third of the city's wards were up for election, Labour gained 7 seats and the Green Party doubled their seats from 2 to 4. The Liberal Democrats lost 10 seats.
These trends were continued into the next election in May 2014, in which Labour gained three seats to take their total to 31, the Green Party won two more seats, the Conservative party gained one seat, and UKIP won their first-ever seat on the council. The Liberal Democrats lost a further seven seats.
On 3 May 2012, Bristol held a referendum on the question of a directly elected mayor replacing one elected by the council. There were 41,032 votes in favour of a directly elected mayor and 35,880 votes against, with a 24% turnout. An election for the new post was held on 15 November 2012, and Independent candidate George Ferguson became Mayor of Bristol.
The Lord Mayor of Bristol, not to be confused with the Mayor of Bristol, is a figurehead elected each May by the city council. Councillor Faruk Choudhury was selected by his fellow councillors for the position in 2013. At 38, he was the youngest person to serve as Lord Mayor of Bristol and the first Muslim elected to the office.
Bristol constituencies in the House of Commons also included parts of other local authority areas until the 2010 general election, when their boundaries were aligned with the county boundary. The city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North West. At the 2017 general election, Labour won all four of the Bristol constituencies, gaining the Bristol North West seat, seven years after losing it to the Conservatives.
The city has a tradition of political activism. Edmund Burke, MP for the Bristol constituency for six years beginning in 1774, insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first and a representative of his constituents' interests second. Women's-rights advocate Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was born in Bristol, and the left-winger Tony Benn served as MP for Bristol South East in 1950–1960 and again from 1963–83. In 1963 the Bristol Bus Boycott, following the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to hire Black drivers and conductors, drove the passage of the UK's 1965 Race Relations Act. The 1980 St. Pauls riot protested against racism and police harassment and showed mounting dissatisfaction with the socioeconomic circumstances of the city's Afro-Caribbean residents. Local support of fair trade was recognised in 2005, when Bristol became a fairtrade zone.
Bristol is both a city and a county, since King Edward III granted it a county charter in 1373. The county was expanded in 1835 to include suburbs such as Clifton, and it was named a county borough in 1889 when that designation was introduced.
Bristol