The Bristol Civic Leadership Project is a research collaboration between the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol. It commenced in 2012, prompted by the introduction of a mayoral system of governance in the city, and has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, and Bristol City Council. It has led to the production of policy-focused reports and academic outputs, and enabled the researchers involved to contribute to a variety of events in Bristol and beyond.
Report on the governance options facing Bristol
Ahead of the Mayoral Referendum, held in Bristol on 5 May 2022, on whether to retain the mayoral system or switch to a committee system, the Bristol Civic Leadership Project published a report in March 2022 called called ‘The Bristol referendum 2022: Thinking through the options‘. It is available for download here: https://bristolcivicleadership.net/our-publications/
The May 2022 referendum
In the referendum Bristol citizens decided to abolish the mayoral model of governance and to replace it, with effect from May 2024, with a committee model of governance. A cross-party working group of councillors was set up to develop design principles for the new model:
Bristol Civic Leadership Project 