Mayor of South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire Council has a Chair and Vice-Chair of Council rather than a mayor and deputy mayor.

The Chair of Council and in her absence, the Vice Chair, is the civic leader and first citizen of the community of South Gloucestershire.

The Chair of Council is elected each year at the annual Council meeting and represents the council at civic functions and chairs full Council meetings.  The Chair should not be confused with the Leader or Deputy Leader of the Council who provide political leadership for the Council.

Chair of Council, Councillor Erica Williams



South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority in South West England. It comprises multiple suburban areas to the north and east of Bristol. South Gloucestershire was created in 1996 from the northern section of the county of Avon, which was abolished at that time.

The area includes multiple towns and population centres, with many of these areas continuing to expand in both population and industry. (Many Towns and population areas are listed in two major subheadings below).

South Gloucestershire took its title for historic reasons, but as a unitary authority it is not administered as part of the shire county of Gloucestershire. It is however part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, which means it shares its Lord Lieutenant (the Sovereign's representative to the county) with Gloucestershire. Because of its history as part of the county of Avon, South Gloucestershire works closely with the other unitary authorities which took over when that county was abolished, including shared services such as Avon Fire and Rescue Service and the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, together with co-operation in planning strategy for transport, roads and housing.