The City of Bristol is a ceremonial county governed by a unitary authority; Bristol City Council. The city is divided into 35 wards, which each elect two councillors for a four-year term. One third of the councillors are elected three years in four, but as only one councillor from any ward stands at a time, two-thirds of wards are competed each election. From 2016, the whole council will be elected every four years. The full council of 70 councillors has ultimate responsibility for establishing the decision making process and approving the Council's budget and policy framework. The council meets at the City Hall. Full meetings are chaired by the Lord Mayor, a largely ceremonial role that does not hold direct power. The Lord Mayor is a councillor, elected annually in May by the council members. The elected mayor acts as leader of the cabinet and appoints up to seven councillors as members. The cabinet is responsible for most day-to-day decisions though the elected Mayor retains the right to override cabinet votes.
Composition and control
The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but the Liberal Democrat party grew strong in the city and took minority control of the Council between the 2005 and 2007 elections. After the 2007 elections, the Labour, Conservative and Green parties then joined forces to oust them and install a minority Labour administration. The Lord Mayor for 2012–2013 was Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Main. In October 2008 the Liberal Democrats won a seat from Labour in a by-election caused by the death of the sitting councillor. On 24 February 2009 the minority Labour administration resigned following a defeat over plans to build an incinerator in Avonmouth, and the Liberal Democrats resumed control. In 2009, the election resulted in the Liberal Democrats taking overall majority control of Bristol City Council for the first time. 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. The 2013 local elections, in which a third of the city's wards were up for election, saw Labour gain 7 seats and the Green party double their seats from 2 to 4 while the Liberal Democrats suffered a loss of 10 seats. These trends were continued into the next election in May 2014, in which Labour gained 3 seats to take their total to 31, the Green Party built on their success by winning 2 more seats, the Conservative Party gained 1 seat and UKIP won their first ever seat on the council. In another damaging result, the Liberal Democrats lost a further 7 seats. In March 2015, the only Independent Councillor on Bristol City Council joined the Conservatives, bringing their total up to 16. In May 2015, the Green Party continued to increase their number of seats, winning 7 new seats and becoming the 3rd largest party on the Council, with the Lib Dems now in 4th. Labour also gained a new seat at the expense of the Lib Dems. The Lib Dem's decline was compounded later that month when one of the remaining Lib Dem Councillors defected to the Greens, leaving the Lib Dems with 9 seats and the Greens with 14.
