Charnwood Borough Council

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.

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 and it is announced to the Council at the next meeting. The "Mayor Elect" then has time to prepare for their civic year which will start at the Annual Meeting of Council in May.

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, and the proceeds of the Mayor's charity concert.

What is the role of the Deputy Mayor?

At the end of their year of office, the Mayor is usually elected to act as Deputy Mayor for the following year. 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.