Lord Mayor of Bristol

Find out about the Lord Mayor of Bristol, how they’re elected and what their duties are

The Lord Mayor must be a serving councillor and each of Bristol’s political groups take turns in holding the position each year. The Lord Mayor serves a one year term and when this is over they normally become the Deputy Lord Mayor.

The Lord Mayor is a different role to the Mayor of Bristol. Find out more about Bristol’s Mayor.

The Lord Mayor is the first Citizen of the City and County of Bristol. There have been Mayors in Bristol since 1216 and a Lord Mayor since 1899, following Queen Victoria's decision to grant Bristol this privilege.

The Lord Mayor is observing social distancing rulings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. All in-person civic engagements will be subject to current safety guidelines regarding social distancing. You can follow the Lord Mayor on twitter @brislordmayor  and Instagram brislordmayor.

You can invite the Lord Mayor to an event or a Zoom or Skype meeting.

Invite the Lord Mayor to a Zoom or Skype meeting

Invite the Lord Mayor to an event

The Lord Mayor, Lord Mayor’s Consort and Deputy Lord Mayor

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Bristol is Councillor Jos Clark.

Read the Lord Mayor’s biography (pdf, 76KB) (opens new window)

The Lord Mayor’s Consort is Hugo Clark.

Read the Lord Mayor's Consort's biography (pdf, 17KB) (opens new window) .

The Deputy Lord Mayor is Councillor Carole Johnson

Read the Deputy Lord Mayor's biography (pdf, 64KB) (opens new window)

Lord Mayor's medals

Recipients

The following lists each of the medal recipients, their area of the city, and their achievements:

• Brenda Smith (Henleaze) for services to Girl Guiding community and church groups
• Carol (St George) for services to St George community horticulture and healthy living
• Dianne Francombe (Bristol) for support to Bristol-China relations
• Dorrett Depass-Williams (Downend) for charity, church and community, plus spiritual support to prisoners
• Esther Scull (Southmead) for voluntary services to Bristol Army Cadet Force
• Lorraine Bush (Posthumous), (Bristol) for charity work tackling substance abuse
• Naseem Talukdar (Fishponds) for charity and voluntary work supporting homeless and hungry people, and the environment
• Nura Aabe (St Pauls) for services promoting autism awareness
• Simon Brookes (Westbury-on-Trym) for neighbourhood improvements, and training in first aid/life-saving skills
• Steve Strong (Ashton Gate) for services to international relations, aid, and twinning
• Sue Perry (Clifton) for services to women’s groups, church groups and schools
• Tim Wallis (Sea Mills) for services to community engagement and communications
• Veronica Dvorokova (Bishopsworth) for services to Bristol’s Czech and Slovak community
• Yvonne Long (Redcliffe) for services to community activity, adult literacy

The duties of the Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor devotes most of their time to the promotion of the city, key initiatives of the council and supporting a wide range of Bristol based organisations.

The Lord Mayor carries out around 800 engagements a year covering a wide spectrum of events from major royal visits to small community group meetings and local charity events. They also chair the meeting of the full council when all councillors meet together.

The Lord Mayor, as first citizen of Bristol is the person that typically welcomes important visitors and dignitaries to the city. However, royal visitors to the city are organised and welcomed by the Queen's representative, The Lord Lieutenant.

Electing the Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is elected annually in May when all councillors meet together at the Annual Council Meeting.

The Lord Mayor has to be a councillor and is chosen by the other councillors who serve on the council. They continue to be a member of the council during their term of office.

Length of service

The term of office for the Lord Mayor is one year. It begins once the 'Mayor-making' ceremony has taken place at the Annual Council Meeting in mid-May. There is no limit for how many times somebody may serve as the Lord Mayor of Bristol.

The Lord Mayor's charities

The Lord Mayor is Patron of or connected with hundreds of charities within Bristol and assists them as much as possible.

Every year, the Lord Mayor's Christmas Appeal for Children helps hundreds of children in Bristol with vouchers for food, toys and clothing. The appeal is run by Rotary, Round Table and Lions Clubs with the Lord Mayor as the appeal's patron.

Contact the Lord Mayor's office

For all other enquiries email lordmayor@bristol.gov.uk
For information about The Lord Mayors Chapel see the Lord Mayor's Chapel website