Paula O’Rourke is leader of the 24 Green councillors on Bristol Council. Elected as a Green councillor for Clifton in 2016 at the age of 58, this was her second career. Formerly, Paula worked in leadership in secondary schools and taught English, history, law and citizenship. She was the first chair of the Friends of Clifton Centre and Library and ran the Friday Film Club. She also worked on the first ever local LitFest in November 2019, running the annual Shakesbeer Promenade, an on-street Shakespeare festival.
Rosemary Bechler: Congratulations, first of all, on becoming the leader of 24 Green councillors on Bristol council.
Paula O’Rourke: Yes, it’s going to make quite a difference: we’ve gone from 11 councillors in a council with a resounding Labour majority for the last five years. I’m glad to have been appointed leader. Bristol has a Labour Party elected mayor who has executive power, so we haven’t been offered any cabinet positions, despite being joint largest party. But we do have some extra committee roles and we’ll see.
