Role
The Lord Mayor is a member of the City of London's governing body, the City of London Corporation (incorporated as The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London). The Corporation comprises the Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common Council; the former includes only the Aldermen, while the latter includes both Aldermen and Common Councilmen. The Lord Mayor is a member of and presides over both bodies.
As noted earlier, the main role of the Lord Mayor is to represent, support and promote the financial, maritime and other business services industry in the UK. He undertakes this as head of the City of London Corporation and, during his year, hosts visiting foreign Ministers, businessmen and dignitaries; furthermore, he conducts several foreign visits of his own in order to promote the British financial sector.
Banquets hosted by the Lord Mayor often serve as opportunities for senior Government figures to make major speeches. At the Lord Mayor's Banquet (held on the Monday after the Lord Mayor's Show), the Prime Minister delivers the keynote address. At the Banker's Dinner in June, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers a speech known as the Mansion House Speech, which takes its name from the Lord Mayor's residence. At the Easter Banquet, which is also hosted at Mansion House, a speech is delivered by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
The Lord Mayor performs numerous other functions. He serves as the Chief Magistrate of the City of London, Admiral of the Port of London, Chancellor of City University, President of Gresham College, President of City of London Reserve Forces and Cadets Association, and Trustee of St Paul's Cathedral. The Lord Mayor is also the head of the Commission of Lieutenancy, which represents the Sovereign in the City of London (other counties usually have Lord Lieutenants, as opposed to Commissions), and annually attends the Treloar Trust (named after Sir William Treloar, Lord Mayor in 1906), in Hampshire. The Treloar Trust runs two educational sites for disabled children, a school and college.
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