Lord mayor

Lord mayoris a title of amayorof what is usually a major city in aCommonwealth realm,with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign.However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor".Aldermenusually elect the lord mayor from their ranks.

Commonwealth of Nations

Letters patent granting lord mayoralty to Oxford.

Sir John Stuttard,Lord Mayor of Londonduring the 2006Lord Mayor's Show

The Right WorshipfulLord Mayor of LeedsSir Charles Lupton

Australia

InAustralia,lord mayor is a special status granted by themonarchto mayors of major cities, primarily the capitals of Australian states and territories. Australian cities with lord mayors areAdelaide,Brisbane,Darwin,Hobart,Melbourne,Newcastle,Parramatta,Perth,Sydney,andWollongong.

Canada

InCanada,the only town with a lord mayor in the traditional sense isNiagara-on-the-Lake,as recognition of its role as the first capital ofUpper Canada.Unusually, the council ofBrantford,Ontario took it upon itself to appoint an honorary Lord MayorWalter Gretzkyin addition to the elected mayor.This is the only example of a council granting the cachet itself, rather than it being granted by a higher authority, such as the Crown or national government.

United Kingdom

Main article:List of lord mayoralties and lord provostships in the United Kingdom

In England, Wales, andNorthern Ireland,it is a purely ceremonial post conferred byletters patent.Most famously it refers to theLord Mayor of London,who only has jurisdiction over theCity of London,as opposed to the modern title ofMayor of LondongoverningGreater London.

Uganda

InUganda,the only jurisdiction with alord mayorisKampala,in recognition of its status as the capital city of the country.

Ireland

InIreland,the posts ofLord Mayor of Dublin(granted under theKingdom of Ireland) andLord Mayor of Cork(granted when this city was part of theUnited Kingdom) still exist, and are symbolic titles as in the UK.

Province of Maryland

Annapolis,the only city in theThirteen Coloniesto receive a royal charter, used the title 'lord mayor' prior to theAmerican Revolution.

Equivalents in other languages

• InDenmark,as the translation ofDanishOverborgmester,it is the title of the highest mayor of Denmark's capital city,Copenhagen.
• InGermany,it is sometimes (and perhaps anachronistically or incongruously) used to translate GermanOberbürgermeister,the title of the mayors of large, often county-free cities. Especially in large cities that consist of subunits governed byDistrict mayors(Bezirksbürgermeister), the titleOberbürgermeisteris usually used to distinguish the head executive of the entire city from those of the subunits. As in Austria, Germany's mayors serve as the actual executive leaders of their cities and are elected officials. However, the post of mayor in the three Germancity-statesis equivalent to that of aMinisterpräsident(head of government of one of Germany's constitutivestates) and the respective post is referred to asRegierender Bürgermeister(governing mayor) in Berlin,Erster Bürgermeister(first mayor) inHamburgandBürgermeister und Präsident des Senates(Mayor and President of the senate) inBremen.
• InFinland,the head city manager of the capital,Helsinki,is customarily given by the country's President the titleylipormestari[loosely translated: "high mayor" ] (which then generally is much more used of the official thankaupunginjohtaja,the title of the office itself), a tradition that resembles closely the lord mayoralties in other countries.
• InRomaniaandMoldova,the mayors of the capitals (BucharestandChişinău,respectively) are named Primar General which means general mayor. The name is ceremonial and it has no higher powers than mayors of other cities.
• InHungary,themayorof the capitalBudapestis calledfőpolgármesterwhich means chief mayor or grand mayor. Only the capital has afőpolgármester.Between 1873 and 1945, theLord Mayor of Budapestwas representative of the Hungarian government at the capital's municipal authority.
• Inancient China,jīng zhào yĭn( Kinh Triệu Doãn ) was the title given to the mayor of capital city, jīng zhào ( kinh triệu ). Today, on the other hand, city mayor and party-appointed secretary (actual leader) of the fourdirect-controlled municipalities,Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai,andChongqing,though without special titles, share the rank of provincial governor and party-appointed secretary.
• InEstonia,the mayor of the capital (Tallinn), was named Lord Mayor (Ülemlinnapea) from 1938 to 1940.
• InCzech Republic,the mayor of the capital Prague and so-called statutory cities (listed in law, currently 25 cities) is calledPrimátor.
• InSweden,the titles of mayor and lord mayor have no direct equivalent since the 1970s. The executive leader of Swedish municipalities is one of sometimes severalKommunalrådin the function of the chair of the municipal board. In the capitalStockholmthe chief executive is traditionally calledFinansborgarråd(City Councillor of Finance)— "council" in this context referring to the executive rather than the legislative branch of local government.
• TheWelshtranslation of lord mayor isArglwydd Faer.
• TheIrishtranslation of lord mayor isArd-Mhéara,which means "chief mayor".
• TheMalaytranslation of lord mayor isDatuk bandar,which means "city chief".
• In theEthiopian Empire,theMayor of Addis Ababawas known as Lord Mayor (Kantiba).

Style of address

The style of address for the office of the lord mayors of Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, the City of London, and York isThe Right Honourable.All other lord mayors areThe Right Worshipful.This refers only to the post, rather than the person.The titleSircan be used forsalutationswhen a lord mayor is being addressed.

See also

• Lord provost,the similar post inScotland