diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 45e8f48..fde2101 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-    ".": "5.4.0"
+    ".": "5.5.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ba90672..4f0d09f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [5.5.0](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/compare/v5.4.0...v5.5.0) (2026-06-09)
+
+### Features
+
+- surface the selected variant on flags ([#221](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/issues/221))
+  ([7fc7224](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/commit/7fc722421e4036820fa656e7a4c38c11f0bd62f3))
+- use the variant as the exposure event value ([#222](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/issues/222))
+  ([1438708](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/commit/14387080a1836b7f5b9e368d7b3f125447752e16))
+
 ## [5.4.0](https://github.com/Flagsmith/flagsmith-python-client/compare/v5.3.1...v5.4.0) (2026-06-01)
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7b8eced..ff053bb 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "flagsmith"
-version = "5.4.0"
+version = "5.5.0"
 description = "Flagsmith Python SDK"
 authors = ["Flagsmith <support@flagsmith.com>"]
 license = "BSD3"