![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_May25-New-Lord-Mayor-Henry-Michallat.jpg\")
The new lord mayor of Bristol, Cllr Henry Michallat, chairing his first full council meeting on Tuesday, May 13,(Image: Bristol City Council\/YouTube)<\/p>\nConservative Cllr Henry Michallat is just 27 years oldThe new lord mayor of Bristol, Cllr Henry Michallat, chairing his first full council meeting on Tuesday, May 13,(Image: Bristol City Council\/YouTube)<\/p>\n
The great-grandson of the inventor of the Walnut Whip has been elected as one of the youngest ever lord mayors of Bristol.<\/p>\n
Cllr Henry Michallat, 27, (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) was sworn into the ceremonial role at the annual general full council meeting of Bristol City Council<\/a> on Tuesday, May 13.<\/p>\n Accepting the position, Cllr Michallat said he would dedicate his year as Bristol\u2019s first citizen to improving the life chances of children with dyslexia and promoting the city’s arts, culture and history.<\/p>\n He becomes only the second ever openly gay lord mayor, following immediately after his predecessor Cllr Andrew Varney (Lib Dem, Brislington<\/a> West) who, following tradition, becomes deputy lord mayor for the next 12 months.<\/p>\n Cllr Michallat, who was born at Southmead<\/a> Hospital and grew up in north Bristol, told the meeting: \u201cIt\u2019s both an incredible honour and deep privilege to sit before you as one of the youngest lord mayors of the great city of Bristol.<\/p>\n \u201cThis role carries with it a rich history dating back to 1216, a sense of tradition and a profound responsibility.<\/p>\n Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI am truly humbled to be elected to this historic office and I promise to serve with the utmost dedication and commitment to our city.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the position of lord is ceremonial and not a political role, it offers a unique opportunity to serve as a symbol of unity, progress and pride for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Michallat, an auctioneer and valuer at Clevedon Salerooms, said: \u201cMy family has been in Bristol for over 100 years, my great-grandfather coming to Bristol in the 1920s where he had an illustrious career as a chocolatier and inventor of the Walnut Whip.<\/p>\n \u201cMy theme for the year is to celebrate and promote Bristol\u2019s arts, culture and history.<\/p>\n \u201cBristol is a city that\u2019s always been at the forefront of creativity, whether it\u2019s through our incredible music scene, our world-renowned street art, our historic landmarks or our diverse cultural expression.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the ancient walls of Bristol Castle to our buzzing theatres, art venues and museums, our city has always been a place where innovation and tradition go hand in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that by promoting and championing our rich arts and cultural heritage we can not only preserve what makes Bristol unique but also build a more inclusive and dynamic city for future generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arts have a remarkable power to bring people together, to foster understanding and to inspire change.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether through a painting, a song or performance, the creative spirit of Bristol connects us all.<\/p>\n \u201cI also plan to highlight the historical significance of Bristol, from its maritime heritage to its role in the Industrial Revolution and important architecture and ensure that these stories are told in a way that is inclusive and respectful of all the different communities that make up our great city.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish to explore not only our successes but also our challenges and how to overcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Michallat said he and his partner Josh, who will be his consort on official engagements, would dedicate time to improving life chances for children with dyslexia by working with local schools and charities to raise greater awareness.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something which is close to our hearts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI pledge to honour this position with integrity, humility and a deep love for the city I have always called home.<\/p>\n \u201cTogether we will continue to make Bristol a place where creativity flourishes, heritage is cherished and every voice is heard.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow Conservative ward Cllr John Goulandris proposed the appointment, which received unanimous cross-party approval.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cHenry will be our youngest lord mayor in living memory and will bring a youthful dynamism to the role.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, he also has a maturity well beyond his years.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been active in community affairs since his early teenage years and I have had the pleasure of campaigning with Henry well before he became my fellow councillor in Stoke Bishop.<\/p>\n \u201cServing the community is deeply embedded in Henry\u2019s psyche.<\/p>\n \u201cLike me, Henry has a surname with decidedly non-Bristolian roots.<\/p>\n \u201cHenry\u2019s great-grandfather emigrated from France in 1908.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, Henry himself is a true Bristolian, born and bred here.<\/p>\n \u201cHenry will bring many personal qualities to the role of lord mayor.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has tremendous personal charm, always calm in manner and extremely patient.<\/p>\n \u201cHenry has that X factor<\/a> of likeability \u2013 that ability to relate to all people, young and old.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we go door-knocking, people who won\u2019t say very much to me or to other canvassers open up and chat with Henry like a long-lost friend.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that Henry together with his consort Josh will bring a friendly, sensitive and refreshingly modern approach to their respective roles.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Michallat was first elected in 2021 aged 23 and, as lord mayor, will chair full council meetings.<\/p>\n Try BristolLive Premium for FREE without intrusive ads and brilliant new features<\/p>\n No intrusive adverts, pop-ups or distractions! Just our brilliant content presented in the best way possible.<\/p>\n Get your free one-month trial by visiting the ‘Premium’ tab on the BristolLive app now (auto renews annually at \u00a319.99).<\/p>\n If you haven’t got it already, get started by downloading our app here on iPhone<\/a> or here on Android<\/a>. If you already have the app but can’t see the ‘Premium’ section, you’ll need to check for the latest update. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservative Cllr Henry Michallat is just 27 years oldThe new lord mayor of Bristol, Cllr Henry Michallat, chairing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[9420,381,3893,748,955,527,393,4884,11518,4729,285,10963,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-101770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-brislington","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-clevedon","13":"tag-conservative-party","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-liberal-democrats","17":"tag-museums","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-southmead","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114508231329425902","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}