My Acceptance Speech

Lord Mayor's Blog 2

A number of people have asked what I said in my acceptance speech. While it’s rather wordy for a normal blog item, for my second entry here is the substantive part of the speech (with preamble, personal thanks, asides etc. omitted).

First of all, Vivienne and I would like to thank the Council for the very great honour that you’ve bestowed upon us in making us the First Citizens of the City of Birmingham. We both now fully understand the meaning of the word: ‘honoured’.
The Lady Mayoress and I have common interests in the history and heritage of our great city - right back to the time of Beorma as, I imagine, do most of us in this chamber. And we also have active interests in the local heritage and works of world-renowned author and long-time Birmingham resident J.R.R. Tolkien. In this connection, the Lady Mayoress has played a pivotal role in organising Birmingham’s annual Middle-earth Weekend centred on Sarehole Mill - a visit to which we hope will still be on the Mayoral agenda for next year. Despite the weather, this unique, volunteer-led event just a couple of days ago attracted thousands more visitors from near and far, all enjoying themselves in an old-fashioned atmosphere and finding out more about Middle-earth in Birmingham. And we are both looking forward to finding out a great deal more about the complex, inspiring and intriguing City of Birmingham as the year progresses.
Speaking of history, as you may now know, the Lady Mayoress’ family has lived in Birmingham for centuries. For myself, although I’ve lived in Birmingham for over forty years and indeed went to school and university and was married here, my origins are in the Black Country. So I was very pleased to note that in 1877 the City Council made clear that it knows, and I quote: "No distinction between her citizens by birth or adoption" which is still a very valuable message for today. With hand on heart I can honestly say that I’ve always believed that Black Country people and Brummies should enjoy reciprocal citizenship!
To follow in the footsteps of previous Mayors and Lord Mayors of our energetic, innovative and diverse City is a huge responsibility, not lightly undertaken. Inspired by this tradition,I will do all in my power to work for and promote Birmingham, its industry, history and culture - and its narratives. For Birmingham has many big stories, from being at the heart of the industrial revolution right through to the International City of today, the regeneration of which is due, in no small part, to the work of this Council in which a wide range of members have played a role. But in my view, the biggest story of all is the total of a million smaller stories - the stories of the individual people of Birmingham whom we all seek to serve.
In our activities as Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, we will be greatly assisted by the dedicated staff of the Lord Mayor’s Parlour. We could not come near to doing the job without them, and I’d like to pay advance tribute to their commitment, and efficiency - and their thrift - right at the outset. As to business, following on from my predecessors, I will endeavour to assist the Council in ensuring the efficient and democratic conduct of our meetings, continuing further to promote mutual regard and good order.
During the year, I will do all that I can to enhance the recognition of Birmingham as an outstanding place in which to live, work and invest, and I will give visible support to all of our manufacturing industries -- those which are new, those which are green and those which have withstood the test of time and the slings and arrows of outrageous finance. I for one believe that a thriving manufacturing sector is vital to our sustained prosperity, and in my view there is no such thing as a post-industrial economy.
My service on the Council’s Trusts and Charities Sub-Committee has given me some insight into the very wide range of charitable and voluntary operations that our citizens undertake right across Birmingham, and I look forward to offering Mayoral support to as many as I can, whenever I can. There’s so much good work being done and so many deserving causes - some formal, some informal, some established, some yet to be - that identifying just a few of them for special attention is an agonising process - as all former Lord Mayors already understand. For the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal for the coming year, I have identified four elements.
Firstly, St. Basil’s - the inestimable work of this charity with young people providing them with support services, advice, mediation and guidance and tackling and preventing homelessness and its consequences has helped to transform very many young lives here in Birmingham. However, in today’s society there is no let-up in the need for the very wide range of services so ably provided by St. Basil’s, and we will be making a big effort during the year to support this most worthy cause.
For my second charity I nominate WAITS - Women Acting In Today’s Society. This is a very important charity in a diverse city such as Birmingham, and WAITS is doing outstanding work enabling women to address issues and overcome barriers, combating isolation and providing help to increase the involvement of women in the public life and business of communities throughout the city - from which all of us will benefit. Here again, we know that there is a continuing need for the extensive range of activities carried out by WAITS, and that there are many who are yet to benefit, and a great deal more work still to be done.
Thirdly, I propose to establish a fund to support the study and practice of Engineering in Birmingham - at various levels and in a range of forms - but I do mean the kind of Engineering that makes things! As a Council we all recognise the unmatched contribution that engineering has made to the City, and I am sure we would all agree that it is vital that Birmingham remains prominent in this important field in the future. So, alongside other initiatives, I will play my part in encouraging and enabling young people from Birmingham to take up Engineering both as a course of study and as a fulfilling future career. And encouragement will also be offered to progress developments in vital newer areas such as Clinical Engineering.
Finally, I intend to establish a new charity to be called: The Birmingham Fund for Pancreatic Cancer Research, which I will do all in my power to ensure outlasts my Mayoralty - and indeed runs until that dread affliction is mastered. While there’s been steady progress with several forms of cancer, for pancreatic cancer the five-year survival rate following diagnosis forty years ago stood at just 3%. Today that rate is - well, just 3%. Yet the disease is treatable on those occasions where the cancer is detected early enough, and the primary focus of the fund will be on research, conducted in Birmingham, into improved diagnostic methods.
The position of Lord Mayor of Birmingham is an office with a most auspicious tradition and a demanding tempo. Within an extensive programme of visits already in the diary - and to which we look forward immensely - I also intend to get out to see more of our manufacturing firms old and new - and also the commemorations of "what was lost". Along with the higher level duties of the Lord Mayoralty, we intend to see as much as possible of the lives and activities of the citizens of Birmingham in all our communities and in all walks of life, and to communicate with people using both traditional and modern methods.
This great City is much more than the sum of its present parts. For we are like a broad oak, the roots of which reach deep into our historical origins, and the branches of which spread widely across our many cultures. For we are many people - yet one City; many cultures - yet one City; many trades (yes, still so) - one City; many persuasions (be they religious or political) - one City. In other words, to adapt a motto used on a Great Seal elsewhere: "out of many, one" - ‘E Pluribus Birmingham’ as it were - and so, as one city, Forward!
Both Vivienne and I look forward with the keenest anticipation to our year as Birmingham’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. I thank colleagues throughout this wonderful and historic Council for your support and encouragement - and for your patience! We look forward to serving the City of Birmingham and its Council with our full commitment and to the very best of our abilities.