The first attempt to form a trades council in Bristol was in 1868, when the Council of Amalgamated Trades was created. However, by the following year, this had become part of the Board of Trades Delegates, a group focused on encouraging workers to vote for the
Liberal Party, and even this had dissolved by 1871. By 1873, most large cities in the UK had a trades council, and in January, John Cawsey assembled a group of trade unionists at the Cock and Bottle pub on
Castle Green, where they founded the Bristol Trades Council. Initially, fifteen
craft unions were affiliated, but their total membership was less than 3,000, and this figure changed little until 1890. Despite this, and its early insistence on remain neutral between the Liberal and
Conservative parties, it began featuring in the city's public life, for example, by nominating a member to a committee to investigate the position of the poor people in the city. In 1885, it founded a local Labour League, to support trade unionists standing for public office. This was immediately successful, as John Fox of the
Bristol, West of England and South Wales Operatives Trade and Provident Society was elected to the
School Board, while in 1887, R. G. Tovey was elected to
Bristol City Council. with a full-time secretary for the first time. In 1921, it created the Bristol Unemployed Association to direct the existing movement of unemployed workers away from militant activity and towards joint campaigns with trades unions. Several other trades councils were inspired to create similar organisations, and in 1932 the
Trades Union Congress took over responsibility as part of a national scheme modeled on the Bristol example. The council co-ordinated local activity during the
UK general strike, and although it had made no advance plans, its round-the-clock sessions and system of cycle messengers were deemed a success. ==Secretaries==