Alastair King

London Explained – Lord Mayor or Mayor?

by exploringlondon

Lord Mayor of London or Mayor of London? They have similar titles but their roles and responsibilities (not to mention their history) are quite different.

The Lord Mayor’s Show in November, 2023, with then newly elected Lord Mayor of London Michael Mainelli. PICTURE: j Thomas Salas/Shutterstock

The older of the two posts is the Lord Mayor of London, a title which refers to the governance of the City of London, known to many as the “Square Mile” in the heart of the capital.

The Lord Mayor of London (officially, since 2006, known as the Lord Mayor of the City of London) heads the City of London Corporation and is an elected position; in fact it’s one of the world’s oldest continuously elected offices dating back to the late 12th century.

The Lord Mayor, who holds office for one year, is elected by the City liverymen at the Common Hall held on Michaelmas (29th September) each year. They must be serving in the office of Alderman at the time.

The Lord Mayor of London takes office on the Friday before the second Saturday of November in what is known as The Silent Ceremony (the Lord Mayor’s Show, a celebration of the newly elected Lord Mayor, takes place the following day).

The role of the Lord Mayor of London – who takes precedence over all individuals in the City of London with the exception of the monarch – has historically been to represent the residents and businesses within the City although in modern times the role is effectively an “international ambassador” for the UK’s financial and professional services sector.

The current Lord Mayor of London is Alastair King who is the 696th Lord Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor of London works out of offices at their official residence near the Royal Exchange and Bank of England known as Mansion House.

Onto the Mayor of London. A much more modern position (it was created in the year 2000), the Mayor of London is directly elected by the registered voters of Greater London. They serve as the chief executive of the Greater London Authority and work with the 25 members of the London Assembly.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is charged with overseeing the strategic governance of Greater London which includes the City of London and all 32 London boroughs (each of which also has a ceremonial or elected mayor).

Responsible for setting an overall vision for the city, the Mayor is tasked with creating policies on everything from arts and culture, the environment and the economy to policing and crime, transport, sport and housing.

The Mayor of London is based at City Hall at Royal Docks in Newham.

The current Mayor of London is Sadiq Khan, the third to serve in the role, has been mayor since 2016. The previous two mayors include Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, who, of course, went on to be PM.

This Week in London – Lord Mayor’s Show; ‘Poppy Fields at the Tower’; and, ‘The Great Mughals’ at the V&A…

by exploringlondon

• The Lord Mayor’s Show – featuring the 696th Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King – will be held this Saturday. The three-mile long procession – in which the Lord Mayor will ride in the Gold State Coach – features some 7,000 people, 250 horses, and 150 floats. It will set off from Mansion House at 11am and travel down Poultry and Cheapside to St Paul’s Cathedral before moving on down Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street to the Royal Courts of Justice. The return journey will set off again at 1:10pm from Temple Place and travel via Queen Victoria Street back to Mansion House where he will take the salute from the Pikemen and Musketeers at 2:40pm. For more information, including where to watch the show, head to https://lordmayorsshow.london.

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 Poppy Field at the Tower. PICTURE: © Luxmuralis / Historic Royal Palaces.

• An immersive sound and light show commemorating World War I and II opens at the Tower of London tomorrow ahead of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. Historic Royal Palaces has partnered with Luxmuralis to present Poppy Fields at the Tower with visitors invited to go inside the Tower where – recalling the 2014 display Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red in the Tower of London moat to mark the centenary of World War I – the walls will not only be illuminated with tumbling poppies but also historic photographs, documents and plans. The display is being accompanied by music composed by David Harper, and poetry recordings. Visitors will also be granted special access to see the Crown Jewels after-hours to learn more about their removal from the Tower during both World Wars. Runs until 16th November and should be pre-booked. Admission charges apply. For more, see https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/poppy-fields-at-the-tower/.

Akbar handing the imperial crown to Shah Jahan in the presence of Jahangir, Bichitr. Dated regnal year 3 (18th January 1630–7 January 1631), the borders c1630–1640. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper. Folio
from the Minto Album. © CC BY – 4.0. Chester Beatty, Dublin

• An exhibition celebrating the golden age of the Mughal Court opens at the V&A in South Kensington on Saturday. The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence examines the “creative output and internationalist culture” of Mughal Hindustan during the age of its greatest emperors, a period spanning c1560 to 1660. More than 200 objects are on display arranged in three sections corresponding to the reigns of the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605), Jahangir (1605 to 1627) and Shah Jahan (1628 to 1658). The objects include paintings, illustrated manuscripts, vessels made from mother of pearl, rock crystal, jade and precious metals. Highlights include four folios from the Book of Hamza, commissioned by Akbar in 1570, and the Ames carpet which was made in the imperial workshops between c1590 and 1600 and is on display for the first time in the UK. There’s also a unique wine cup made from white nephrite jade in the shape of a ram’s head for Shah Jahan in 1657, two paintings depicting a North American Turkey Cock and an African zebra created by Jahangir’s artists, and a gold dagger and scabbard set with over 2,000 rubies, emeralds and diamonds. Runs in Galleries 38 and 39 until 5th May. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.

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This Week in London – Silk Road treasures; a new Lord Mayor of London; and, reassessing the UK’s early Emo scene…

by exploringlondon
Dunhuang Star Chart 649 – 700 CE – Or.8210/S.3326 © British Library Board

• The world’s earliest complete printed book with a date, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky and the earliest surviving historical document in Tibetan are among treasures on show in a new exhibition at the British Library. A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang features more than 50 manuscripts, printed documents and pictorial works including many which were sealed in the so-called ‘Library Cave’ in the Buddhist Mogao cave complex near the oasis town of Dunhuang in Gansu province, China, for almost 900 years before they were rediscovered in 1900. Highlights in the display include the Diamond Sutra (868 AD) – the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date, the Dunhuang star chart (649-700) – the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky (pictured), and the Old Tibetan Annals (641-761) – the earliest surviving historical document in Tibetan. On public display for the first time is a rubbing of the Stele of Sulaiman – a carved stone slab that was erected in the caves in 1348, a copy of the Diamond Sutra written in the scribe’s own blood (considered by Buddhists to be an act of powerful sincerity), and one of the most important and complete manuscripts among the Old Uyghur Manichaean texts, the Xuastuanift. There is also a 9th century manuscript fragment about the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra (believed to be nearly 400 years older than any other surviving Zoroastrian scripture) and the longest surviving manuscript text in the Old Turkic script, a Turkic omen text known as the Irk Bitig or Book of Omens (930 or 942). The exhibition, which explores Silk Road interactions through a case of characters including a scribe, merchant and Buddhist nun, runs until 23rd February and is accompanied by a programme of events. Admission charge applies. For more, see https://silkroad.seetickets.com/timeslots/filter/a-silk-road-oasis-life-in-ancient-dunhuang

• Alderman Alastair King has been elected the 696th Lord Mayor of London. King, who succeeds Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli, takes office on 8th November for a one year term with the annual Lord Mayor’s Show, which takes place the following day, his first public event. “It is a tremendous honour to be elected as the 696th Lord Mayor of the City of London,” the Lord Mayor-elect, whose role will see him serving as a global ambassador for the UK financial and professional services industry, said. “London remains the world’s leading financial centre, but global competition is fierce. We have the expertise and talent to thrive, yet we must do more to unlock growth, equip people to innovate, and harness the remarkable dynamic diversity that makes the City exceptional.”

• An “unfiltered” look at the early Emo scene in the UK is the subject of a new exhibition at the Barbican Music Library. I’m Not Okay (An Emo Retrospective), a collaboration between the library and the Museum of Youth Culture (MOYC), features personal photos taken on early digital and phone cameras and focuses on the first-generation Emo scene (2004-2009), a time when bands such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Finch were “hugely influential”.  Jamie Brett, creative director at the MOYC said the Emo scene “resonated deeply with teens who wanted to express their angst, doubts, insecurity, and sense of feeling and being different, and channelled their collective melancholy into a transatlantic subculture”. The exhibition, which is free to enter, can be seen until 15th January. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries/barbican-music-library.

Send all items for inclusion to exploringlondon@gmail.com.