2021 Bristol City Council election

The 2021 Bristol City Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Bristol City Council in England. It coincided with nationwide local elections. Voters in the city also voted for the mayor of Bristol, the mayor of the West of England and for Avon and Somerset's police and crime commissioner. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Labour Party, Conservative Party, Green Party and Liberal Democrats all stood full slates of 70 candidates. There were also eight candidates from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), two independent candidates, and one candidate each from Reform UK, the SDP and Burning Pink.

Turnout was lower than in the 2016 Bristol City Council election, with a citywide turnout of 41.04%. Only four wards had a turnout of more than 50% of the electorate, compared to ten wards in 2016. Hartcliffe and Withywood recorded a turnout of 20.34%, the lowest turnout of any ward since Bristol's move to whole council elections.

Background
Since the 2016 local elections, there have been changes to the political make up of the council. In 2016, Labour briefly lost control of the council after suspending three councillors. Labour regained control of the council later that year after it readmitted them. On 24 May 2018, a by-election was held in Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze ward, resulting in the Conservatives gaining a seat from the Liberal Democrats. On 22 March 2019, the Eastville councillor Sultan Khan resigned from the Labour Party, but continued to represent the ward as an independent before joining the Liberal Democrats. On 17 July 2019, the Brislington East councillor Tony Carey resigned from the Conservative Party, but continued to represent the ward as an independent before joining the Liberal Democrats A by-election took place in Brislington East on 16 January 2020 after the death of the Labour councillor Mike Langley. The by-election was won by the Labour candidate Tim Rippington. On 23 March 2021, the Labour councillor Jo Sergeant defected to the Green Party.

In preparation for the election, political parties went through their selection processes. The Conservative Party faced controversy after the party deselected Peter Abraham, the council's longest serving councillor who had first been elected in 1966 for the Stockwood ward. The local party did not state a reason for this decision. Labour Party selection processes, which are normally overseen by local party officials, were taken over by paid officials from the South West Labour Party Regional Office, who removed and banned candidates in several key wards, resulting in resignations by local volunteer members. The Labour group in the city saw seventeen of its backbench councillors standing down; twenty councillors, including all of the cabinet, are seeking re-election.

For the candidates for the mayoral election, Marvin Rees was re-selected as Labour's candidate; Sandy Hore-Ruthven was announced as the Green party's candidate, Caroline Gooch from the Liberal Democrats and Samuel Williams was initially selected as the Conservative candidate. Williams subsequently decided to stand down as the Conservative candidate, choosing instead to run in the regional West of England mayoral election. Alastair Watson, a former city councillor, stood for the Conservatives in place of Williams.

Campaign
Conservative mayoral candidate Williams was critical of Rees's pursuit of Bristol Energy, a council-run energy company and the ambition of constructing underground transport for the city. Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats campaigned to scrap the post of elected mayor.

Council composition
Prior  to the 2021 election, the composition of the council was:



After  the 2021 election, the composition of the council was:



Election result
The Greens and Labour each won 24 seats out of 70.



Changes 2021–2024

 * Chris Davies and Gary Hopkins, both elected as Liberal Democrats, left the party on 13 December 2021 to form the Knowle Community Party.

Southmead
The Southmead by-election was triggered following the stepping down of Helen Godwin over time constraint alongside her other job.

Hotwells & Harbourside
The Hotwells and Harbourside by-election was triggered following the stepping down of Alex Hartley over health concerns. At the time of this by-election, both Labour and Green Party held 24 seats on Bristol Council, making them the joint-largest parties. The Green gain in this by-election meant the Greens became the largest group on the council.

Bishopston and Ashley Down
The Bishopston and Ashley Down by-election was triggered following the stepping down of Lily Fitzgibbon due to her moving away from the area.


 * On 12 December 2023, Labour councillor for Filwood, Zoe Goodman, resigned from the party over its response to what she called "the genocide in Gaza", becoming an Independent councillor.


 * In March 2024, the Green party suspended one of their councillors for Ashley, Jude English, pending investigation of a complaint against her.