The Threat to the Lord Mayoralty

One aspect of any move to an elected mayor is how this fundamental change would impact upon the position of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. In my view - and that of everyone else connected with the civic function of the council (where local communities and charities are visited and supported) is that the Lord Mayoralty would be severely diminished.

The title of Lord Mayor was granted by Queen Victoria and I'd asked for legal advice on whether this made the position permanent. But the legal view is that the post of Lord Mayor could be removed since no evidence or law could be found that suggested that the position of Lord Mayor is mandatory.

In fact it is a position within the Council's constitution and the post could be removed by a change in the constitution. This is not difficult to do and indeed a constitutional change that cut across the Lord Mayoralty was made by the Council in 2007 at the behest of the Leader of the Council. This was wholly exceptional and says a lot about the individual involved.

Any such decisions need to be made by the Full Council and while not in the gift of an elected Mayor, if they wanted this to happen and are of the same political party as the controlling group on the council, the Lord Mayoralty could be abolished - and without undue difficulty.

A further point of importance is that the civic duties of the Lord Mayor are extensive (1,000+ engagements a year) and therefore do not combine easily with the significant executive functions of an Elected Mayor. So if the Lord Mayor went, so also would almost all of the civic function.

I had also asked about naming and the use of the term "Mayor" in the unfortunate event of having to have an elected mayor. The legal view is that there would be difficulties in continuing to name the Lord Mayor as "Lord Mayor" if there is also an elected "Mayor". A different title for the Lord Mayor may be required since the Government demands that the city boss be called "Mayor". as a result, some 85% of those authorities that now have an elected Mayor have already got rid of the title "Mayor" for the former civic head.

So anything that you may have read by senior people in the 'Yes' camp that the Lord Mayoralty is secure is misleading. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is due to carelessness and ignorance. The council itself, unless forced by government or pushed by an elected mayor would not in future re-title, otherwise downgrade or remove the Lord Mayoralty. The only way of being sure of the future of the position of Lord Mayor of Birmingham is to vote against having an elected Mayor on May 3rd.