| The Convenors of Scottish local authorities are sometimes known as Provosts and in other instances, a Councillor may be appointed as the Provost of a town within the area of the local authority. References in these papers to Lord Mayoralty may be read as including Lord Provostship - please note, however, that those relating to elected Mayors are not appropriate to the Scottish context. |
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A competition for a grant of Lord Mayoralty/Lord Provostship to mark The Queen's Golden Jubilee was launched on 25 July 2001 with a closing date of 12 October 2001.
The details are contained in a press notice issued on 25 July.
Permission to use the title 'Lord Mayor' is a rare mark of distinction granted to a city by The Queen under the Royal Prerogative, acting on the advice of Ministers.
The grant of a Lord Mayoralty confers no additional powers or functions on a town. It is purely honorific; a Lord Mayor takes precedence over a Mayor at functions, in processions etc.
A Lord Mayoralty is not, and never has been, a right which can be claimed by a city fulfilling certain conditions. The use of specific criteria could lead to a city claiming a Lord Mayoralty as of right, which in turn might devalue the honour. All applications are considered on their individual merits.
| Aberdeen |
Liverpool |
Only cities can apply for this honour. It is an exceptional distinction conferred on the Mayors of a few - usually long-established and important - cities.
Lord Mayoralties are granted rarely, usually on occasions of particular Royal significance. There were 16 grants last century.
There is no commitment to confer more than one Lord Mayoralty or Lord Provostship to mark the Golden Jubilee.
No. The application has to come from the local authority.
No. There is no right of appeal against a decision made by the Sovereign under the Royal Prerogative.
It is for Her Majesty the Queen to decide when a grant of Lord Mayoralty will be made. Competitions are usually held on occasions such as important Royal anniversaries. The Prime Minister announced on 23 November 2000, in answer to a written Parliamentary Question, that Her Majesty had expressed an intention to mark the 50th Anniversary of Her Accession to the throne by a grant of Lord Mayoralty and grants of city status.
With the machinery of government changes after the General Election in 2001, responsibility for advising Her Majesty on civic honours and other Royal matters has passed from the Home Secretary to the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor will advise The Queen after consultation, as appropriate, with the Secretaries of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Civic honours are a reserved matter throughout the United Kingdom, and therefore a matter for UK Government Ministers; but any comments which the devolved administrations wish to submit on the applications from the relevant countries will be taken into account.
There are no specific criteria. The cities known to be interested in applying for the honour have, however, been provided with some guidance on the factors that will be taken into account.
Local authorities have been informed that applications from cities of less than 10 years' standing are unlikely to succeed; and that other factors that will be taken into account when the bids are assessed are whether the city has:
By Letters Patent.
A Lord Mayoralty is a mark of distinction. It carries no practical advantages for the city.
No. Lord Mayoralty is an honorific title. In contrast, an elected mayor will be a member of a local authority, elected by the whole electorate for the authority's area. An elected mayor will lead the executive in implementing the local authority's policies and providing key political leadership to the council and the community it represents.
The elected mayor will be entitled to the style of 'Mayor', but it will depend on the terms of the grant of the Lord Mayoralty, and possibly also on local choice, whether the elected mayor, or some other person, holds the title of 'Lord Mayor'.
No. Although it is for the local authority to decide how best to present its case, Ministers do not want to encourage cities to expend large amounts of money on their bids. The quality of the contents of an application will weigh more heavily than their quantity or the standard of presentation.
Officials are not able to deal with lobbying companies or professional lobbyists. All applications submitted will be fairly and equally assessed on their merits.