And
now, here is the NewsJanuary
2003 Newsletter
Picture
Llibrary
Merry
Christmas & A Happy New Year!
And now, here is the News
Annual Civic Service at Westminster Abbey
Ambassadorial Dinner
Royal Opera House
A New Type of Mayor
Hot News
The Power of Debate
A Word of Caution
Membership
And
now, here is the News
Annual
Civic Service at Westminster Abbey
This year’s Annual Civic Service in Westminster Abbey was held on Sunday
20th October 2002. Despite the pouring rain, the Service was exceptionally enjoyable
and memorable. The Abbey Choir excelled themselves again and the Service was
led by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev. Wesley Carr who also gave the
Sermon. This was very fitting bearing in mind the Service was taking place where
the Coronation took place and we were in the middle of Her Majesty’s Golden
Jubilee Celebrations.
The Reception after the Service was again held in the Great Hall of Westminster
School and for this we were grateful to the Head Master for permitting us to
use this historic Hall. We also saw a record number of members and their guests
attending the Reception which was sponsored by the Burford Property Company.
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Ambassadorial
Dinner
On the 3rd December 2002, the Lord Mayor of Westminster’s Reception Rooms
were bursting at the seams with a record number of guest being entertained for
Dinner. The occasion was the annual London Mayors’ Association’s Ambassadorial
Dinner.
The guests included nine Ambassadors and High Commissioners including the Ambassador
of Algeria, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Mexico and Yugoslavia as well
as the High Commissioner of Canada and the Deputy Ambassador of the United States,
each of whom sat at a different table.
Other guests included the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, Sir Anthony Figgis
and Lady Figgis and the Mayor of Tallinn who was in London on a Foreign Office
sponsored visit. In addition, twelve incumbent Mayors and their Mayoresses and
Consorts were among the members attending.
The ninety guests enjoyed a pre-dinner reception followed by a three course
Dinner catered for by Honorary member Jenny Bianco and then heard speeches from
Executive Vice-Chairman Cllr Ronnie Barden and the Georgian Ambassador.
Special thanks go to Helen Watson and Ronnie and Pip Raymond Cox for helping
Executive Chairman Cllr Robert Davis for organising the successful evening.
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Royal
Opera House
Members enjoyed an exciting and interesting behind the scenes tour of the Royal
Opera House, the wonderful British home of Opera and Ballet.
The combination of wonderful architecture, tradition and the promise of inspirational
music and ballet is a draw enough in itself – but add to this a stimulating
visit to the back stage area where we saw sets being created, costumes being
hand made and ballerinas training for a performance that night. The tour also
included a visit to the smaller second theatre space, the auditorium of the
main Theatre and the Floral Hall. The fascinating visit ended with light refreshments
in the former Crush Bar now known as the Conservatory.
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A New Type of Mayor
This year has introduced us to a completely new “personality” the
directly elected Mayor, whose role is more akin to that of Leader or Chief Executive
rather than the ceremonial civic role.
Most boroughs have not adopted this and have continued in the time honoured
traditional fashion of our Mayor’s being selected from sitting Councillors
to undertake non-political civic duties. Those that have opted to directly elect
their Executive Mayor include Newham Council whose directly elected Mayor was
previously its Leader. In Newham, the role of the civic Mayor is now undertaken
by the “Civic Ambassador”. This is also the case in Lewisham where
the person who undertakes the ceremonial roles previously associated with the
traditional role of Mayor is known as the “Chair of the Council”.
The third Borough with a directly elected Mayor is Hackney. The role of civic
Mayor is now undertaken by the “The Speaker” of the Council.
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Hot News
In Ealing, a referendum was held on 12 December 2002.
55.2% of voters supported the motion to retain the current leader and cabinet
system and a civic Mayor.
Full election results:
Total number of votes cast: 21,182
Percentage turn out: 9.8
Number of yes votes: 9,454
Number of no votes: 11,655
This followed a petition to the Council requiring a referendum. Congratulations
to active members Bill Hill and Cllr Joan Ansell who lead the campaign to retain
a Civic Mayor.
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THE POWER OF DEBATE
The Way Forward to Democracy by Eleanor Stanier, former
Mayor of Richmond upon Thames
We are secure in our democracy. Other towns and cities in Europe are not. I
am thinking of the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe where there is a shortage
of reliable people with the experience to run elections. In Bosnia for instance
in 1998, the elections were overseen by staff who had been paid for by a United
Nations offshoot called the Office of the High Representative. As it happens
I visited Bosnia briefly in 1999 and it struck me what a long way there was
to go in encouraging the growth of democracy as we know it.
In my own Borough of Richmond upon Thames, we have had student councils and
pupil parliaments for years. All pupils have the chance to practise their debating
skills and organisational skills while in school. You learn to discuss and thrash
out issues verbally. Our citizens are used to consultations and discussions
in and outside the council chamber. I was therefore keen to see if there are
any members of the London Mayors’ Association, who like me, would like
to visit the new democracies. If you are interested please get in touch with
me and if there is sufficient interest, I will try and arrange a trip.
Eleanor Stanier 74 Palewell Park East Sheen London SW14 8JH Email: estanier@hotmail.com
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A WORD OF CAUTION
The Lord Mayor of Westminster was about her civic duties, en route to a function
in the north of the city on the weekend immediately prior to the Bank Holiday
Jubilee celebrations. A police range rover pulled up alongside looked in and
then instructed the chauffeur to pull into the side of the road. The police
officer enquired who the civic dignitary was. After being told, he then proceeded
to give the Lord Mayor a dressing down for not wearing her seat belt and issuing
her with a penalty notice.
As current and former London Mayors will know, wearing seat belts over the mayoral
insignia plays havoc with one’s attire. Nevertheless, let the Lord Mayor’s
experience be a lesson to you to BELT UP.
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Membership
Our Centenary Year (2001) saw us with every Civic Mayor in London joining the
London Mayors’ Association and so we had a difficult task in matching that
unique achievement. However, we are just two short of matching that achievement
in 2002-3 with several months to persuade the missing two to join us. This years
new members includes several who were already members having been Mayors before
or in the case of Newham, an associate member. In the three London Boroughs,
with directly elected Mayors, Newham, Hackney and Lewisham, the Councillor carrying
out the civic duties previously undertaken by the civic Mayor are all members.
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Member News
Congratulations to Cllr Eric Munday, a long serving member, who has become Leader
of Havering Council following the May elections.
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