History

It has long been accepted protocol that not only is the Mayoralty kept above the political arena but also that its incumbent avoids any contentious matter. For this reason the Mayor is unable to become involved in any individual problems or Council complaints. Any such matters will be passed on to the relevant council departments and the local Ward Councillors.

The Mayor does of course remain a Ward Councillor themselves and will continue to assist their own ward residents as they would normally.

If you are sending a letter it should be sent to:

The Worshipful The Mayor
Charnwood Borough Council
Southfields
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 2TX

and start "Dear Madam Mayor"

When speaking to the Mayor and Mayoress they should be addressed as:

• "Madam Mayor" (Not Lord Mayor)
• "Mayoress" (Not Lady Mayoress)

To correctly announce the Mayor (and Mayoress) to an audience:

• "The Worshipful The Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Jill Vincent (and the Mayoress, Ms. Emma Aronica)"

The Officer accompanying the Mayor to an event will always be able to advise you on these matters.

Royal greetings for 100th and 105th birthdays and every year thereafter, and to those celebrating their Diamond Wedding (60th), 65th, 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter need to be requested from the Anniversaries Office at Buckingham Palace.

The Mayor is also pleased to visit people celebrating such events and usually arranges to call in at the celebrations to stay for half an hour bringing a card and a basket of flowers. For further details Contact the Mayor's Office.

To be Mayor you must be a Councillor, elected by the people of the Borough. In Charnwood, the political groups take turns to select the Mayor for the year. The Conservative group hold an internal ballot amongst their members to select their nomination for the role. The Labour and Liberal Democrat groups offer the opportunity to their longest serving member who has not yet taken the position.

There is no salary attached to the job. Mayors often have a normal full time job and fit their Mayoral duties around this, although many Councillors would not take on the role before they are retired.

The Mayor does receive the normal allowance given to all Councillors, an additional Responsibility Allowance, equivalent to that paid to the Cabinet Members, and also a Mayoral Allowance towards their out-of-pocket expenses such as church collections, raffle tickets and charity dinner tickets.

The Mayor is chauffeured around in a leased Skoda Superb Diesel Hatchback 1.6 TDI. The car is only used to convey the Mayor to official engagements (he can't use it to do his shopping!) and a close record is kept on the routes taken and the mileage clocked up. The car is usually replaced every four years and does around 12000 miles each year.

It can be identified by its distinctive registration number YUT1 and the Borough crest displayed in the front window or on the flag flown at times on the front grille

Before the DVLC was created in 1962 to administer licensing nationally, County Council licensing offices issued numbers to cars sold in their area. When licensing started in 1927 Leicestershire County Council allocated the block of numbers starting YUT... to be given to vehicles in the Loughborough area under the jurisdiction of the local Police Superintendent. The first number - YUT1 was allocated to the Mayoral car.

The same number has been transferred to each new vehicle every time the car has been changed, from the very first Rolls Royce up to the present day Volvo.

The Mayor is the principal ambassador of the Council and will attend around 500 engagements each year over 90% of which are likely to be within the Borough. They chair meetings of the full Council, host annual events such as the Civic Church Service and the opening of the fair, and promote Council initiatives and campaigns. Most Mayors get to welcome at least one royal visitor to the Borough and attend around sixty-five religious gatherings of the many different faiths in Charnwood. They are likely to congratulate half a dozen centenarians, and host around two thousand people to around eighty civic presentations and events in the Civic Suite at Loughborough Town Hall. They will cut ribbons, draw raffles, present certificates and have their picture in the local papers several times most weeks. They will get an invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and visit some European twin towns.

The important factor in all these engagements is that the Mayor is here for the people of the Borough, and they try to accept as many invitations to visit as much of the Borough as possible throughout their year of office.