The 2011 Bristol City Council elections were held on Thursday 5 May 2011, for 24 seats, that being one third of the total number of councillors.[a] The Liberal Democrats, who had won overall control of the council in 2009 and increased their majority in 2010, experienced a drop in support and lost 5 seats; 4 to the Labour Party and 1 to the Green Party, which gained its second ever council seat in Bristol. This meant that the Lib Dems no longer had a majority on the council. However, they continued to run the council, relying on opposition groups to vote through any proposal.
^All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections,[1] although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections. It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.[2]
