diff --git a/.github/actions/release-branches/action.yml b/.github/actions/release-branches/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6dee85a65e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/release-branches/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+name: 'Release branches'
+description: 'Determine branches for release & backport'
+inputs:
+  major_version:
+    description: 'The version as extracted from the package.json file'
+    required: true
+  latest_tag:
+    description: 'The most recent tag published to the repository'
+    required: true
+outputs:
+  backport_source_branch:
+    description: "The release branch for the given tag"
+    value: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_source_branch }}
+  backport_target_branches:
+    description: "JSON encoded list of branches to target with backports"
+    value: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_target_branches }}
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - id: branches
+      run: |
+        python ${{ github.action_path }}/release-branches.py \
+            --major-version ${{ inputs.major_version }} \
+            --latest-tag ${{ inputs.latest_tag }}
+      shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/actions/release-branches/release-branches.py b/.github/actions/release-branches/release-branches.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f38d2ec370
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/release-branches/release-branches.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import argparse
+import os, json
+import subprocess
+
+# Name of the remote
+ORIGIN = 'origin'
+
+OLDEST_SUPPORTED_MAJOR_VERSION = 2
+
+# Runs git with the given args and returns the stdout.
+# Raises an error if git does not exit successfully (unless passed
+# allow_non_zero_exit_code=True).
+def run_git(*args, allow_non_zero_exit_code=False):
+  cmd = ['git', *args]
+  p = subprocess.run(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+  if not allow_non_zero_exit_code and p.returncode != 0:
+    raise Exception(f'Call to {" ".join(cmd)} exited with code {p.returncode} stderr: {p.stderr.decode("ascii")}.')
+  return p.stdout.decode('ascii')
+
+def main():
+
+  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+  parser.add_argument("--major-version", required=True, type=str, help="The major version of the release")
+  parser.add_argument("--latest-tag", required=True, type=str, help="The most recent tag published to the repository")
+  args = parser.parse_args()
+
+  major_version = args.major_version
+  latest_tag = args.latest_tag
+
+  print("major_version: " + major_version)
+  print("latest_tag: " + latest_tag)
+
+  # If this is a primary release, we backport to all supported branches,
+  # so we check whether the major_version taken from the package.json
+  # is greater than or equal to the latest tag pulled from the repo.
+  # For example...
+  #     'v1' >= 'v2' is False # we're operating from an older release branch and should not backport
+  #     'v2' >= 'v2' is True  # the normal case where we're updating the current version
+  #     'v3' >= 'v2' is True  # in this case we are making the first release of a new major version
+  consider_backports = ( major_version >= latest_tag.split(".")[0] )
+
+  with open(os.environ["GITHUB_OUTPUT"], "a") as f:
+
+    f.write(f"backport_source_branch=releases/{major_version}\n")
+
+    backport_target_branches = []
+
+    if consider_backports:
+      for i in range(int(major_version.strip("v"))-1, 0, -1):
+        branch_name = f"releases/v{i}"
+        if i >= OLDEST_SUPPORTED_MAJOR_VERSION:
+          backport_target_branches.append(branch_name)
+
+    f.write("backport_target_branches="+json.dumps(backport_target_branches)+"\n")
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+  main()
diff --git a/.github/actions/release-initialise/action.yml b/.github/actions/release-initialise/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c914435fe4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/release-initialise/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+name: 'Prepare release job'
+description: 'Executed preparatory steps before update a release branch'
+
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+
+    - name: Dump environment
+      run: env
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Dump GitHub context
+      env:
+        GITHUB_CONTEXT: '${{ toJson(github) }}'
+      run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+      with:
+        python-version: 3.8
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+        pip install PyGithub==1.55 requests
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Update git config
+      run: |
+        git config --global user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+        git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+      shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/update-release-branch.py b/.github/update-release-branch.py
index 1d19c30ee9..94d416c41a 100644
--- a/.github/update-release-branch.py
+++ b/.github/update-release-branch.py
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 
 """
 
-SOURCE_BRANCH = 'main'
-TARGET_BRANCH = 'releases/v2'
 
 # Name of the remote
 ORIGIN = 'origin'
@@ -34,7 +32,9 @@ def branch_exists_on_remote(branch_name):
   return run_git('ls-remote', '--heads', ORIGIN, branch_name).strip() != ''
 
 # Opens a PR from the given branch to the target branch
-def open_pr(repo, all_commits, source_branch_short_sha, new_branch_name, conductor):
+def open_pr(
+  repo, all_commits, source_branch_short_sha, new_branch_name, source_branch, target_branch,
+  conductor, is_primary_release, conflicted_files):
   # Sort the commits into the pull requests that introduced them,
   # and any commits that don't have a pull request
   pull_requests = []
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def open_pr(repo, all_commits, source_branch_short_sha, new_branch_name, conduct
 
   # Start constructing the body text
   body = []
-  body.append(f'Merging {source_branch_short_sha} into {TARGET_BRANCH}.')
+  body.append(f'Merging {source_branch_short_sha} into {target_branch}.')
 
   body.append('')
   body.append(f'Conductor for this PR is @{conductor}.')
@@ -79,20 +79,38 @@ def open_pr(repo, all_commits, source_branch_short_sha, new_branch_name, conduct
 
   body.append('')
   body.append('Please do the following:')
+  if len(conflicted_files) > 0:
+    body.append(' - [ ] Ensure `package.json` file contains the correct version.')
+    body.append(' - [ ] Add commits to this branch to resolve the merge conflicts ' +
+      'in the following files:')
+    body.extend([f'    - [ ] `{file}`' for file in conflicted_files])
+    body.append(' - [ ] Ensure another maintainer has reviewed the additional commits you added to this ' +
+      'branch to resolve the merge conflicts.')
   body.append(' - [ ] Ensure the CHANGELOG displays the correct version and date.')
   body.append(' - [ ] Ensure the CHANGELOG includes all relevant, user-facing changes since the last release.')
-  body.append(f' - [ ] Check that there are not any unexpected commits being merged into the {TARGET_BRANCH} branch.')
+  body.append(f' - [ ] Check that there are not any unexpected commits being merged into the {target_branch} branch.')
   body.append(' - [ ] Ensure the docs team is aware of any documentation changes that need to be released.')
+
+  if not is_primary_release:
+    body.append(' - [ ] Remove and re-add the "Update dependencies" label to the PR to trigger just this workflow.')
+    body.append(' - [ ] Wait for the "Update dependencies" workflow to push a commit updating the dependencies.')
+    body.append(' - [ ] Mark the PR as ready for review to trigger the full set of PR checks.')
+
   body.append(' - [ ] Approve and merge this PR. Make sure `Create a merge commit` is selected rather than `Squash and merge` or `Rebase and merge`.')
-  body.append(' - [ ] Merge the mergeback PR that will automatically be created once this PR is merged.')
 
-  title = f'Merge {SOURCE_BRANCH} into {TARGET_BRANCH}'
+  if is_primary_release:
+    body.append(' - [ ] Merge the mergeback PR that will automatically be created once this PR is merged.')
+    body.append(' - [ ] Merge the v1 release PR that will automatically be created once this PR is merged.')
+
+  title = f'Merge {source_branch} into {target_branch}'
+  labels = ['Update dependencies'] if not is_primary_release else []
 
   # Create the pull request
   # PR checks won't be triggered on PRs created by Actions. Therefore mark the PR as draft so that
   # a maintainer can take the PR out of draft, thereby triggering the PR checks.
-  pr = repo.create_pull(title=title, body='\n'.join(body), head=new_branch_name, base=TARGET_BRANCH, draft=True)
-  print(f'Created PR #{pr.number}')
+  pr = repo.create_pull(title=title, body='\n'.join(body), head=new_branch_name, base=target_branch, draft=True)
+  pr.add_to_labels(*labels)
+  print(f'Created PR #{str(pr.number)}')
 
   # Assign the conductor
   pr.add_to_assignees(conductor)
@@ -102,10 +120,10 @@ def open_pr(repo, all_commits, source_branch_short_sha, new_branch_name, conduct
 # since the last release to the target branch.
 # This will not include any commits that exist on the target branch
 # that aren't on the source branch.
-def get_commit_difference(repo):
+def get_commit_difference(repo, source_branch, target_branch):
   # Passing split nothing means that the empty string splits to nothing: compare `''.split() == []`
   # to `''.split('\n') == ['']`.
-  commits = run_git('log', '--pretty=format:%H', f'{ORIGIN}/{TARGET_BRANCH}..{ORIGIN}/{SOURCE_BRANCH}').strip().split()
+  commits = run_git('log', '--pretty=format:%H', f'{ORIGIN}/{target_branch}..{ORIGIN}/{source_branch}').strip().split()
 
   # Convert to full-fledged commit objects
   commits = [repo.get_commit(c) for c in commits]
@@ -182,6 +200,24 @@ def main():
     required=True,
     help='The nwo of the repository, for example github/codeql-action.'
   )
+  parser.add_argument(
+    '--source-branch',
+    type=str,
+    required=True,
+    help='Source branch for release branch update.'
+  )
+  parser.add_argument(
+    '--target-branch',
+    type=str,
+    required=True,
+    help='Target branch for release branch update.'
+  )
+  parser.add_argument(
+    '--is-primary-release',
+    action='store_true',
+    default=False,
+    help='Whether this update is the primary release for the current major version.'
+  )
   parser.add_argument(
     '--conductor',
     type=str,
@@ -191,18 +227,29 @@ def main():
 
   args = parser.parse_args()
 
+  source_branch = args.source_branch
+  target_branch = args.target_branch
+  is_primary_release = args.is_primary_release
+
   repo = Github(args.github_token).get_repo(args.repository_nwo)
-  version = get_current_version()
+
+  # the target branch will be of the form releases/vN, where N is the major version number
+  target_branch_major_version = target_branch.strip('releases/v')
+
+  # split version into major, minor, patch
+  _, v_minor, v_patch = get_current_version().split('.')
+
+  version = f"{target_branch_major_version}.{v_minor}.{v_patch}"
 
   # Print what we intend to go
-  print(f'Considering difference between {SOURCE_BRANCH} and {TARGET_BRANCH}...')
-  source_branch_short_sha = run_git('rev-parse', '--short', f'{ORIGIN}/{SOURCE_BRANCH}').strip()
-  print(f'Current head of {SOURCE_BRANCH} is {source_branch_short_sha}.')
+  print(f'Considering difference between {source_branch} and {target_branch}...')
+  source_branch_short_sha = run_git('rev-parse', '--short', f'{ORIGIN}/{source_branch}').strip()
+  print(f'Current head of {source_branch} is {source_branch_short_sha}.')
 
   # See if there are any commits to merge in
-  commits = get_commit_difference(repo=repo)
+  commits = get_commit_difference(repo=repo, source_branch=source_branch, target_branch=target_branch)
   if len(commits) == 0:
-    print(f'No commits to merge from {SOURCE_BRANCH} to {TARGET_BRANCH}.')
+    print(f'No commits to merge from {source_branch} to {target_branch}.')
     return
 
   # The branch name is based off of the name of branch being merged into
@@ -220,17 +267,81 @@ def main():
   # Create the new branch and push it to the remote
   print(f'Creating branch {new_branch_name}.')
 
-  # If we're performing a standard release, there won't be any new commits on the target branch,
-  # as these will have already been merged back into the source branch. Therefore we can just
-  # start from the source branch.
-  run_git('checkout', '-b', new_branch_name, f'{ORIGIN}/{SOURCE_BRANCH}')
+  # The process of creating the v{Older} release can run into merge conflicts. We commit the unresolved
+  # conflicts so a maintainer can easily resolve them (vs erroring and requiring maintainers to
+  # reconstruct the release manually)
+  conflicted_files = []
+
+  if not is_primary_release:
+
+    # the source branch will be of the form releases/vN, where N is the major version number
+    source_branch_major_version = source_branch.strip('releases/v')
+
+    # If we're performing a backport, start from the target branch
+    print(f'Creating {new_branch_name} from the {ORIGIN}/{target_branch} branch')
+    run_git('checkout', '-b', new_branch_name, f'{ORIGIN}/{target_branch}')
+
+    # Revert the commit that we made as part of the last release that updated the version number and
+    # changelog to refer to {older}.x.x variants. This avoids merge conflicts in the changelog and
+    # package.json files when we merge in the v{latest} branch.
+    # This commit will not exist the first time we release the v{N-1} branch from the v{N} branch, so we
+    # use `git log --grep` to conditionally revert the commit.
+    print('Reverting the version number and changelog updates from the last release to avoid conflicts')
+    vOlder_update_commits = run_git('log', '--grep', '^Update version and changelog for v', '--format=%H').split()
+
+    if len(vOlder_update_commits) > 0:
+      print(f'  Reverting {vOlder_update_commits[0]}')
+      # Only revert the newest commit as older ones will already have been reverted in previous
+      # releases.
+      run_git('revert', vOlder_update_commits[0], '--no-edit')
+
+      # Also revert the "Update checked-in dependencies" commit created by Actions.
+      update_dependencies_commit = run_git('log', '--grep', '^Update checked-in dependencies', '--format=%H').split()[0]
+      # TODO: why is this failing for the v2 branch currently...?
+      print(f'  Reverting {update_dependencies_commit}')
+      run_git('revert', update_dependencies_commit, '--no-edit')
+
+    else:
+      print('  Nothing to revert.')
+
+    print(f'Merging {ORIGIN}/{source_branch} into the release prep branch')
+    # Commit any conflicts (see the comment for `conflicted_files`)
+    run_git('merge', f'{ORIGIN}/{source_branch}', allow_non_zero_exit_code=True)
+    conflicted_files = run_git('diff', '--name-only', '--diff-filter', 'U').splitlines()
+    if len(conflicted_files) > 0:
+      run_git('add', '.')
+      run_git('commit', '--no-edit')
+
+    # Migrate the package version number from a vLatest version number to a vOlder version number
+    print(f'Setting version number to {version}')
+    subprocess.check_output(['npm', 'version', version, '--no-git-tag-version'])
+    run_git('add', 'package.json', 'package-lock.json')
+
+    # Migrate the changelog notes from v2 version numbers to v1 version numbers
+    print(f'Migrating changelog notes from v{source_branch_major_version} to v{target_branch_major_version}')
+    subprocess.check_output(['sed', '-i', f's/^## {source_branch_major_version}\./## {target_branch_major_version}./g', 'CHANGELOG.md'])
+
+    # Remove changelog notes from all versions that do not apply to the vOlder branch
+    print(f'Removing changelog notes that do not apply to v{target_branch_major_version}')
+    for v in range(int(target_branch_major_version)+1, int(source_branch_major_version)+1):
+      print(f'Removing changelog notes that are tagged [v{v}+ only\]')
+      subprocess.check_output(['sed', '-i', f'/^- \[v{v}+ only\]/d', 'CHANGELOG.md'])
+
+    # Amend the commit generated by `npm version` to update the CHANGELOG
+    run_git('add', 'CHANGELOG.md')
+    run_git('commit', '-m', f'Update version and changelog for v{version}')
+  else:
+    # If we're performing a standard release, there won't be any new commits on the target branch,
+    # as these will have already been merged back into the source branch. Therefore we can just
+    # start from the source branch.
+    run_git('checkout', '-b', new_branch_name, f'{ORIGIN}/{source_branch}')
 
-  print('Updating changelog')
-  update_changelog(version)
+    print('Updating changelog')
+    update_changelog(version)
 
-  # Create a commit that updates the CHANGELOG
-  run_git('add', 'CHANGELOG.md')
-  run_git('commit', '-m', f'Update changelog for v{version}')
+    # Create a commit that updates the CHANGELOG
+    run_git('add', 'CHANGELOG.md')
+    run_git('commit', '-m', f'Update changelog for v{version}')
 
   run_git('push', ORIGIN, new_branch_name)
 
@@ -240,7 +351,11 @@ def main():
     commits,
     source_branch_short_sha,
     new_branch_name,
+    source_branch=source_branch,
+    target_branch=target_branch,
     conductor=args.conductor,
+    is_primary_release=is_primary_release,
+    conflicted_files=conflicted_files
   )
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml b/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
index 0f5c494171..696f57aba6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-# This workflow runs after a release of the action. It:
-# 1. Merges any changes from the release back into the main branch. Typically, this is just a single
-#    commit that updates the changelog.
-# 2. Tags the merge commit on the release branch that represents the new release with an `v2.x.y`
+# This workflow runs after a merge to any release branch of the action. It:
+# 1. Tags the merge commit on the release branch that represents the new release with n `vN.x.y`
 #    tag
-# 3. Updates the `v2` tag to refer to this merge commit.
+# 2. Updates the `vN` tag to refer to this merge commit.
+# 3. Iff vN == vLatest, merges any changes from the release back into the main branch.
+#    Typically, this is just a single commit that updates the changelog.
 name: Tag release and merge back
 
 on:
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ on:
 
   push:
     branches:
-      - releases/v2
+      - releases/v*
 
 jobs:
   merge-back:
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ jobs:
         run: echo "${GITHUB_CONTEXT}"
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0  # ensure we have all tags and can push commits
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
 
       - name: Update git config
@@ -51,6 +53,8 @@ jobs:
           short_sha="${GITHUB_SHA:0:8}"
           NEW_BRANCH="mergeback/${VERSION}-to-${BASE_BRANCH}-${short_sha}"
           echo "newBranch=${NEW_BRANCH}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH=$(git branch -r | grep -E "origin/releases/v[0-9]+$" | sed 's/origin\///g' | sort -V | tail -1 | xargs)
+          echo "latest_release_branch=${LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - name: Dump branches
         env:
@@ -59,6 +63,8 @@ jobs:
           echo "BASE_BRANCH ${BASE_BRANCH}"
           echo "HEAD_BRANCH ${HEAD_BRANCH}"
           echo "NEW_BRANCH ${NEW_BRANCH}"
+          echo "LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH ${LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH}"
+          echo "GITHUB_REF ${GITHUB_REF}"
 
       - name: Create mergeback branch
         env:
@@ -89,8 +95,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           VERSION: ${{ steps.getVersion.outputs.version }}
         run: |
-          # Unshallow the repo in order to allow pushes
-          git fetch --unshallow
           # Create the `vx.y.z` tag
           git tag --annotate "${VERSION}" --message "${VERSION}"
           # Update the `vx` tag
@@ -99,13 +103,13 @@ jobs:
           git tag --annotate "${major_version_tag}" --message "${major_version_tag}" --force
           # Push the tags, using:
           # - `--atomic` to make sure we either update both tags or neither (an intermediate state,
-          #   e.g. where we update the v2.x.y tag on the remote but not the v2 tag, could result in
-          #   unwanted Dependabot updates, e.g. from v2 to v2.x.y)
-          # - `--force` since we're overwriting the `vx` tag
+          #   e.g. where we update the vN.x.y tag on the remote but not the vN tag, could result in
+          #   unwanted Dependabot updates, e.g. from vN to vN.x.y)
+          # - `--force` since we're overwriting the `vN` tag
           git push origin --atomic --force refs/tags/"${VERSION}" refs/tags/"${major_version_tag}"
 
       - name: Create mergeback branch
-        if: steps.check.outputs.exists != 'true'
+        if: ${{ steps.check.outputs.exists != 'true' && endsWith(github.ref_name, steps.getVersion.outputs.latest_release_branch) }}
         env:
           VERSION: "${{ steps.getVersion.outputs.version }}"
           NEW_BRANCH: "${{ steps.getVersion.outputs.newBranch }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml b/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
index 2f95d40540..f5ab2cda85 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
@@ -1,46 +1,131 @@
 name: Update release branch
 on:
   # You can trigger this workflow via workflow dispatch to start a release.
-  # This will open a PR to update the v2 release branch.
+  # This will open a PR to update the latest release branch.
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+  # When a release is complete this workflow will open up backport PRs to older release branches.
+  # NB while it will trigger on any release branch update, the backport job will not proceed for
+  # anything other than than releases/v{latest}
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - releases/*
+
 jobs:
-  update:
-    timeout-minutes: 45
+
+  prepare:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: github.repository == 'github/codeql-action'
+    outputs:
+      version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.version }}
+      major_version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.major_version }}
+      latest_tag: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.latest_tag }}
+      backport_source_branch: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_source_branch }}
+      backport_target_branches: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_target_branches }}
     steps:
-    - name: Dump environment
-      run: env
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0  # Need full history for calculation of diffs
+    - uses: ./.github/actions/release-initialise
 
-    - name: Dump GitHub context
-      env:
-        GITHUB_CONTEXT: '${{ toJson(github) }}'
-      run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"
+    - name: Get version tags
+      id: versions
+      run: |
+        VERSION="v$(jq '.version' -r 'package.json')"
+        echo "version=${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        MAJOR_VERSION=$(cut -d '.' -f1 <<< "${VERSION}")
+        echo "major_version=${MAJOR_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        LATEST_TAG=$(git tag --sort=-v:refname | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1)
+        echo "latest_tag=${LATEST_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - id: branches
+      name: Determine older release branches
+      uses: ./.github/actions/release-branches
       with:
-        # Need full history so we calculate diffs
-        fetch-depth: 0
+        major_version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.major_version }}
+        latest_tag: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.latest_tag }}
+
+    - name: debug logging
+      run: |
+        echo 'version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.version }}'
+        echo 'major_version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.major_version }}'
+        echo 'latest_tag: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.latest_tag }}'
+        echo 'backport_source_branch: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_source_branch }}'
+        echo 'backport_target_branches: ${{ steps.branches.outputs.backport_target_branches }}'
 
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+  update:
+    timeout-minutes: 45
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    needs: [prepare]
+    env:
+      REF_NAME: "${{ github.ref_name }}"
+      REPOSITORY: "${{ github.repository }}"
+      MAJOR_VERSION: "${{ needs.prepare.outputs.major_version }}"
+      LATEST_TAG: "${{ needs.prepare.outputs.latest_tag }}"
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       with:
-        python-version: 3.8
+        fetch-depth: 0  # Need full history for calculation of diffs
+    - uses: ./.github/actions/release-initialise
 
-    - name: Install dependencies
+    # when the workflow has been manually triggered on main,
+    # we know that we definitely want the release branch to exist
+    - name: Ensure release branch exists
       run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install PyGithub==1.55 requests
+        echo "MAJOR_VERSION ${MAJOR_VERSION}"
+        RELEASE_BRANCH=releases/${MAJOR_VERSION}
+        if git checkout $RELEASE_BRANCH > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Branch $RELEASE_BRANCH already exists"
+            echo ""
+        else
+            echo "Creating $RELEASE_BRANCH branch"
+            git checkout -b ${RELEASE_BRANCH} ${LATEST_TAG}
+            git push --set-upstream origin ${RELEASE_BRANCH}
+            git branch --show-current
+            echo ""
+        fi
+        echo "Returning to branch: ${REF_NAME}"
+        git checkout ${REF_NAME}
 
-    - name: Update git config
+    - name: Update current release branch
+      if: github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
       run: |
-        git config --global user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-        git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+        echo SOURCE_BRANCH=${REF_NAME}
+        echo TARGET_BRANCH=releases/${MAJOR_VERSION}
+        python .github/update-release-branch.py \
+          --github-token ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} \
+          --repository-nwo ${{ github.repository }} \
+          --source-branch '${{ env.REF_NAME }}' \
+          --target-branch 'releases/${{ env.MAJOR_VERSION }}' \
+          --is-primary-release \
+          --conductor ${GITHUB_ACTOR}
+
+  backport:
+    timeout-minutes: 45
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [prepare]
+    if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push') && needs.prepare.outputs.backport_target_branches != '[]' && needs.prepare.outputs.backport_target_branches != '' }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        target_branch: ${{ fromJson(needs.prepare.outputs.backport_target_branches) }}
+    env:
+      SOURCE_BRANCH: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.backport_source_branch }}
+      TARGET_BRANCH: ${{ matrix.target_branch }}
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0  # Need full history for calculation of diffs
+    - uses: ./.github/actions/release-initialise
 
-    - name: Update release branch
+    - name: Update older release branch
       run: |
+        echo SOURCE_BRANCH=${SOURCE_BRANCH}
+        echo TARGET_BRANCH=${TARGET_BRANCH}
         python .github/update-release-branch.py \
           --github-token ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} \
           --repository-nwo ${{ github.repository }} \
+          --source-branch ${SOURCE_BRANCH} \
+          --target-branch ${TARGET_BRANCH} \
           --conductor ${GITHUB_ACTOR}
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 0537bd2070..862baf1219 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ We typically deprecate a version of CodeQL when the GitHub Enterprise Server (GH
     - Add a changelog note announcing the new minimum version of CodeQL that is now required.
     - Example PR: https://github.com/github/codeql-action/pull/1907
 
+## Deprecating a CodeQL-Action version (write access required)
+
+TODO: fill this section in!
+
 ## Resources
 
 - [How to Contribute to Open Source](https://opensource.guide/how-to-contribute/)