diff --git a/polkadot/.gitlab-ci.yml b/polkadot/.gitlab-ci.yml
index afa52c755c..f8c3d57fa4 100644
--- a/polkadot/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/polkadot/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -269,6 +269,20 @@ publish-s3-release:
 
 
 
+publish-draft-release:
+  stage:                           deploy
+  image:                           parity/tools:latest
+  only:
+    - tags
+    - /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+.*$/        # i.e. v1.0.1, v2.1.0rc1
+  script:
+    - ./scripts/gitlab/publish_draft_release.sh
+  interruptible:                   true
+  allow_failure:                   true
+
+
+
+
 
 .deploy-template:                  &deploy
   stage:                           deploy
diff --git a/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/alert_pending_release.sh b/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/alert_pending_release.sh
index d9798d0733..0bf682712b 100755
--- a/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/alert_pending_release.sh
+++ b/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/alert_pending_release.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 
 # structure_message $content $formatted_content (optional)
 structure_message() {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ EOF
 formatted_msg_body=$(cat <<EOF
 <strong>New version of polkadot tagged:</strong> $CI_COMMIT_TAG.<br />
 Build pipeline: $CI_PIPELINE_URL<br />
-A release will be pending upon completion of this pipeline.
+A release will be drafted upon completion of this pipeline.
 EOF
 )
 
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ send_message "$(structure_message "$msg_body" "$formatted_msg_body")" $MATRIX_RO
 msg_body=$(cat <<EOF
 **New version of polkadot tagged:** $CI_COMMIT_TAG.
 Build pipeline: $CI_PIPELINE_URL
-When the build finishes, it is safe to perform a release.
+When the build finishes, it is safe to build cleanroom binaries.
 EOF
 )
 
diff --git a/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/publish_draft_release.sh b/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/publish_draft_release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..61c4421ab4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/polkadot/scripts/gitlab/publish_draft_release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Function to take 2 git tags/commits and get any lines from commit messages
+# that contain something that looks like a PR reference: e.g., (#1234)
+sanitised_git_logs(){
+  git --no-pager log --pretty=format:"%s%n%b" $1..$2 |
+  # Only find messages referencing a PR
+  grep -E '\(#[0-9]+\)' |
+  # Strip any asterisks
+  sed 's/^* //g' |
+  # And add them all back
+  sed 's/^/* /g'
+}
+
+check_tag () {
+  tagver=$1
+  tag_sha=$(curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN" -s "$api_base/git/refs/tags/$tagver" | jq -r .object.sha)
+  if [ $tag_sha == "null" ]; then
+    return 2
+  fi
+  verified_str=$(curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN" -s "$api_base/git/tags/$tag_sha" | jq -r .verification.verified)
+  if [ $verified_str == "true" ]; then
+    # Verified, everything is good
+    return 0
+  else
+    # Not verified. Bad juju.
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# structure_message $content $formatted_content (optional)
+structure_message() {
+  if [ -z "$2" ]; then
+    body=$(jq -Rs --arg body "$1" '{"msgtype": "m.text", $body}' < /dev/null)
+  else
+    body=$(jq -Rs --arg body "$1" --arg formatted_body "$2" '{"msgtype": "m.text", $body, "format": "org.matrix.custom.html", $formatted_body}' < /dev/null)
+  fi
+  echo $body
+}
+
+# send_message $body (json formatted) $room_id $access_token
+send_message() {
+curl -XPOST -d "$1" "https://matrix.parity.io/_matrix/client/r0/rooms/$2/send/m.room.message?access_token=$3"
+}
+
+# Set initial variables
+api_base="https://api.github.com/repos/paritytech/polkadot"
+substrate_repo="https://github.com/paritytech/substrate"
+substrate_dir='./substrate'
+tag_pattern='^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'
+cc_version='3'
+
+# Cloning repos to ensure freshness
+echo "[+] Cloning substrate to generate list of changes"
+git clone $substrate_repo $substrate_dir
+echo "[+] Finished cloning substrate into $substrate_dir"
+
+version="$CI_COMMIT_TAG"
+last_version=$(git tag -l | sort -V | grep -B 1 -x $CI_COMMIT_TAG | head -n 1)
+echo "[+] Version: $version; Previous version: $last_version"
+
+# Check that a signed tag exists on github for this version
+echo '[+] Checking tag has been signed'
+check_tag "$version"
+case $? in
+  0) echo '[+] Tag found and has been signed'
+    ;;
+  1) echo '[!] Tag found but has not been signed. Aborting release.'; exit 1
+    ;;
+  2) echo '[!] Tag not found. Aborting release.'; exit 
+esac
+
+# Start with referencing current native runtime
+# and find any referenced PRs since last release
+spec=$(grep spec_version runtime/kusama/src/lib.rs | tail -n 1 | grep -Eo '[0-9]{4}')
+echo "[+] Spec version: $spec"
+release_text="Release for CC-$cc_version. Native for runtime $spec.
+
+$(sanitised_git_logs $last_version $version)"
+
+# Get substrate changes between last polkadot version and current
+cur_substrate_commit=$(grep -A 2 'name = "sc-cli"' Cargo.lock | egrep -o '[a-f0-9]{40}')
+git checkout $last_version 2> /dev/null
+old_substrate_commit=$(grep -A 2 'name = "sc-cli"' Cargo.lock | egrep -o '[a-f0-9]{40}')
+
+pushd $substrate_dir
+  git checkout polkadot-master > /dev/null
+  git pull > /dev/null
+  substrate_changes="$(sanitised_git_logs $old_substrate_commit $cur_substrate_commit | sed 's/(#/(paritytech\/substrate#/')"
+popd
+
+echo "[+] Changes generated. Removing temporary repos"
+# Should be done with substrate repo now, clean it up
+rm -rf $substrate_dir
+
+if [ -n $substrate_changes ]; then
+  release_text="$release_text
+
+Substrate changes
+-----------------
+$substrate_changes"
+fi
+
+echo "[+] Release text generated: "
+echo "$release_text"
+
+echo "[+] Pushing release to github"
+# Create release on github
+release_name="Kusama CC-$cc_version $version"
+data=$(jq -Rs --arg version "$version" \
+  --arg release_name "$release_name" \
+  --arg release_text "$release_text" \
+'{
+  "tag_name": $version,
+  "target_commitish": "master",
+  "name": $release_name,
+  "body": $release_text,
+  "draft": true,
+  "prerelease": false
+}' < /dev/null)
+
+out=$(curl -s -X POST --data "$data" -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_RELEASE_TOKEN" "$api_base/releases")
+
+html_url=$(echo $out | jq -r .html_url)
+
+if [ "$html_url" == "null" ]
+then
+  echo "[!] Something went wrong posting:"
+  echo $out
+else
+  echo "[+] Release draft created: $html_url"
+fi
+
+echo '[+] Sending draft release URL to Matrix'
+
+msg_body=$(cat <<EOF
+**Gav: Release pipeline for Polkadot $version complete.**
+Draft release created: $html_url
+EOF
+)
+formatted_msg_body=$(cat <<EOF
+<strong>Gav: Release pipeline for Polkadot $version complete.</strong><br />
+Draft release created: $html_url
+EOF
+)
+send_message "$(structure_message "$msg_body" "$formatted_msg_body")" $MATRIX_ROOM_ID $MATRIX_ACCESS_TOKEN
+
+echo "[+] Done! Maybe the release worked..."