The Role of The Mayor & Deputy Mayor
What Is a Mayor?
The Mayor is an elected Councillor, usually of considerable experience, who is chosen by their fellow Councillors to be their Chairman and First Citizen of the Borough for one year.
The Mayor is expected to rise above politics and refrains from all political activity whilst acting as Mayor.
Is Every Mayor a Lord Mayor?
No.
Lord Mayors are only found in cities (although not all cities have a Lord Mayor), Mayors are found in Boroughs or newly founded Cities. District authorities and County Councils have the Chairman of the Council as their civic head. There are currently 25 Lord Mayors in England, the most recent addition to the list of cities with this status being added by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 to celebrate her golden jubilee.
Precedence
The Local Government Act (1972) provides that the Mayor shall have precedence within the County Borough. The only instance when this precedence is not observed is when it would prejudicially affect the Royal prerogative. This extends not only to Members of the Royal family but also to the Lord Lieutenant, as the Queen’s representative in the County Borough.
When seated the Mayor would be expected to be seated on the immediate right of the Chairman or other person presiding. The Mayoress should be seated on the immediate right of the Mayor or on the left of the Chairman. The Deputy Mayor, when deputising for the Mayor, should be accorded the same precedence.
If a Member of the Royal family or the Lord Lieutenant were in attendance they would be seated to the immediate right of the Chairman with the Mayor seated to the left. This precedence should not only be observed in seating but also when welcoming guests and making introductions.
To avoid confusion that sometimes arises the Mayor, within the County Borough, takes precedence over Government Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs).
How Is the Mayor Chosen?
In Charnwood, the political parties take turns in selecting their nomination for the mayoralty, who is then elected by the full council, traditionally without opposition. The nominating group usually decide around Christmas time who will be Deputy Mayor and it is announced to the Council at the next meeting. The existing Deputy Mayor takes the over role of Mayor at the end of the Council year, having had the preceeding year to prepare for the role.
Not every Councillor will get the opportunity of being Mayor and so the selection is usually hotly contested within the group and although a popular Councillor could be selected more than once this has not happened since 1948!
The Civic Year
During their year of office each Mayor attends over 500 engagements, including chairing 8 meetings of the full council, attending around 45 religious services of all different faiths, congratulating several centenarians, opening and touring round a vast array of different businesses and buildings, welcoming many foreign visitors to the Borough, declaring garden fetes and festivals open, and escorting visiting members of the Royal family. They will also host receptions and give talks to a large number of local community groups and be photographed by the local press often several times a day.
The Mayor only attends events by official invitation sent to their office and many of the functions throughout the year are booked annually, or many months in advance.
During their year most Mayors also attend a number of regular engagements including:
- May - Annual Council meeting and Mayor Making
- June - Twinning visit to Schwabisch Hall and Civic Church Service
- July - Buckingham Palace Garden Party and University Summer Degree Day
- October - Diwali celebrations and Local Democracy Week
- November - Opening Loughborough Fair and Remembrance events
- December - Christmas celebrations, twinning visit to Epinal and University Winter Degree Day
- April - Reception for former/incoming Mayors
Unlike most European dignitaries, the Mayor does not receive any salary for this role, although they do receive a small allowance to cover out of pocket expenses.
During their year each Mayor launches a Charity Appeal for the charity(s) of their choice. Donations come from a wide variety of sources including the sale of recycled textiles collected by the Council door to door and the raffling of any gifts or gratuities received by Council staff as well as from a variety of church collections, donations from local people and businesses. This year's Mayor's Charity Appeal is raising money for Steps, a local charity based in Shepshed. For more information, visit the Mayor's Charity Appeal page.
What Is the Role of the Deputy Mayor?
The Deputy Mayor's role is to deputise for the Mayor, at their request, by attending some engagements at which the Mayor feels they should be represented but which they are unable to attend personally.
Frequently Asked Questions (10)
The role of the Deputy Mayor is to deputise in the absence of the Mayor and as such all invitations must be addressed to the Mayor. If the Mayor is unavailable you may be asked whether you would like the invitation to be passed to their Deputy. If your event is particularly relevant to the person currently the Deputy (perhaps because of some personal connection) you may of course write to them privately and invite them to attend in their role as a Councillor.
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 Sandie Forrest (and Mayor's Consort Mr. Roger Forrest)"
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.
The local press are sent a copy of the Mayor's weekly engagement list and photographers or reporters may be present at some of the events, however inviting the Mayor is no guarantee that the press will attend! They certainly will not cover every engagement the Mayor has and you are best to contact them directly if you wish to specifically draw their attention to your event.
Last updated: Wed 22nd May, 2013 @ 15:57
