[3] In 1908 the Royal Edward Dock was built at Avonmouth to the north of the mouth of the River Avon and with direct access to the Severn estuary and Bristol Channel.

In 1991, Bristol City Council sold a 150-year lease of the Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks to First Corporate Shipping Ltd,[5] a private company owned by Terence Mordaunt and David Ord.

The city's council members voted on 2 June to object to the decision on the grounds of poor value for money, and referred it back to the mayor.

[7][8] Following criticism by the editor of Money Week magazine,[9] George Ferguson told the Financial Times the deal was exceptional value for the city.

[10][11] First Corporate Shipping donated £25,000 to both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt during the 2019 Conservative party leadership contest.

[12] The Port of Bristol is one of the six sites Boris Johnson proposed for a Freeport, saying they were an "excellent" way to boost investment in left-behind parts of the country.