| Election Name: | 1988 Bristol City Council election |
| Country: | England |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 1987 Bristol City Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1987 |
| Next Election: | 1990 Bristol City Council election |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
| Seats For Election: | 23 of 68 seats (one third) to Bristol City Council |
| Majority Seats: | 35 |
| Election Date: | 5 May 1988 |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Seats1: | 39 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats2: | 24 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Seats3: | 5 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Labour Party (UK) |
The 1988 Bristol City Council election took place on 5 May 1988 to elect members of Bristol City Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One third of seats were up for election. This was the first election following the merger of the Liberal Party and SDP to form the Social & Liberal Democrats. There were also several candidates representing the continuing SDP. There was a general small swing to Labour.
The change is calculated using the results when these actual seats were last contested, i.e. the 1984 election.