Lord Mayor of Belfast

Lord Mayor of Belfast
Belfast City Coat of Arms
Incumbent Councillor Arder Carson since 1 April 2015
Style	The Right Honourable[1]
Appointer	Belfast City Council
Term length	One year
Inaugural holder	Sir Daniel Dixon (Lord Mayor) George Dunbar (Mayor) John Vesey (Sovereign)
Formation	1892 (as Lord Mayor of Belfast) 1842 (as Mayor of Belfast) 1613 (as Sovereign of Belfast)
Deputy	Councillor Guy Spence
Website	http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ lordmayor/

The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.

The Lord Mayor is Councillor Arder Carson of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Guy Spence of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in April 2015.

The Lord Mayor's Parlour is traditionally situated in Belfast City Hall.

History

The position that is now the Lord Mayor originated in 1613 in the town's Royal Charter as the Sovereign of Belfast. In 1842, this position was restyled the Mayor of Belfast. in 1892, four years after Belfast was granted city status, the position was given Lord Mayor status, making it one of only three cities on the island of Ireland having a Lord Mayor, the other two being Cork and Dublin. In 1929, it became one of only six cities in the United Kingdom to have a Lord Mayor styled "the Right Honourable". Until 1973 the position was held for three years, when it was reduced to its current term of one year. From 1921 until 1972, the Lord Mayor was automatically entitled to a seat in the Senate of Northern Ireland.

For most of the City's modern history, the position has been held by Unionists, with members of the Ulster Unionist Party holding the post for a total of 61 of the 67 years between 1921 and 1997. The first non-Unionist Lord Mayor since the partition of Ireland in 1921 was David Cook from the Alliance Party who was elected in 1978. The first nationalist Lord Mayor was not appointed until the election of Alban Maginness from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in 1997, while a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor was first elected in 2002. The loss of the Unionist majority on the Council in 1997 has resulted in a greater rotation of the position amongst the parties, which, like other elected positions within the Council such as Committee chairs, is now filled using the D'Hondt system. This system awards positions to parties based on their number of Councillors and means that the Council that sits from 2011 to 2015 will see the Lord Mayor post filled twice by Sinn Féin (2011-12 & 2014-15), once by the Democratic Unionist Party (2012–13) and once by the SDLP (2013–14).

Powers and duties

The Lord's Mayor's role is largely ceremonial, but does include the following powers and duties:^[2]

• In times of natural disaster the Lord Mayor may direct resources such as Police, Fire and Ambulance as they see fit
• Presiding over meetings of the council and, in the case of equality of votes, the Lord Mayor has a second or casting vote
• Promoting and raising awareness of the council’s main objectives and priority issues
• Encouraging and supporting all aspects of life in Belfast by attending civic and public events
• Receiving distinguished visitors to the city
• Acting as host on behalf of the council and the citizens of Belfast at civic functions
• Acting as a spokesperson to the local, national and international media
• Providing an appropriate response on behalf of Belfast at times of local, national and international catastrophe
• Supporting and encouraging charitable and other appeals as appropriate
• Promoting Belfast's business, commercial, cultural and social life
• Promoting Belfast as a place of excellence in which to do business and as a tourist destination.

Deputy Lord Mayor

The position of Deputy Lord Mayor has a representative role within the city along with the Lord Mayor. When the Lord Mayor is unavailable for whatever reason, it is the responsibility of the Deputy Lord Mayor to carry out the representative functions of the Lord Mayor.

While the Deputy Lord Mayor is in office, they combine their mayoral responsibilities with their responsibilities as a councillor, such as serving on Council Committees.

Monuments

• Monuments in the grounds of Belfast City Hall
• 

  James Horner Haslett
  Mayor of Belfast
  1887–88

• 

  William James Pirrie
  Lord Mayor of Belfast
  1896–98

• 

  Sir Daniel Dixon
  Lord Mayor of Belfast
  1892–93, 1901–04 & 1905–07

• 

  Robert James McMordie
  Lord Mayor of Belfast
  1910–14

Sovereigns of Belfast (1613–1842)

The following is a list of Sovereigns of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1613 until it was replaced by the position of Mayor in 1842.^[3]

17th century

18th century

19th century

Mayors of Belfast (1842–1892)

The following is a list of Mayors of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1842 until it was replaced by the position of Lord Mayor in 1892.^[5]

Source: Belfast City Council

Lord Mayors of Belfast (1892–present)

The following is a list of Lord Mayors of Belfast since the creation of the position in 1892.^[6]

19th century

From	To	Name		Party
1892	1893	Daniel Dixon		Irish Unionist
1894	1896	William McCammond		Irish Unionist
1896	1898	William James Pirrie		Liberal
1898	1899	James Henderson		Irish Unionist
1899	1900	Otto Jaffe		Irish Unionist

20th century

From	To	Name		Party
1900	1901	Sir Robert J. McConnell		Irish Unionist
1901	1904	Sir Daniel Dixon		Irish Unionist
1904	1905	Sir Otto Jaffe		Irish Unionist
1905	1907	Sir Daniel Dixon		Irish Unionist
1907	1908	The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury		Irish Unionist
1908	1910	Sir Robert Anderson		Irish Unionist
1910	1914	Robert James McMordie		Irish Unionist
1914	1917	Sir Crawford McCullagh		Irish Unionist
1917	1919	James Johnston		Irish Unionist
1919	1920	John Campbell White		Irish Unionist
1920	1923	William F. Coates		UUP
1923	1929	William George Turner		UUP
1929	1931	Sir William F. Coates		UUP
1931	1942	Sir Crawford McCullagh		UUP
1942	1942	George Ruddell Black		UUP
1943	1946	Sir Crawford McCullagh		UUP
1946	1949	Sir William F. Neill		UUP
1949	1951	William Ernest George Johnston		UUP
1951	1953	James Henry Norritt		UUP
1953	1955	Sir Percival Brown		UUP
1955	1957	Sir Robert John Rolston Harcourt		UUP
1957	1959	Cecil McKee		UUP
1959	1961	Robin Kinahan		UUP
1961	1963	Martin Kelso Wallace		UUP
1963	1966	William Jenkins		UUP
1966	1969	William Duncan Geddis		UUP
1969	1972	Joseph Foster Cairns		UUP
1972	1975	William Christie		UUP
1975	1977	Sir Myles Humphreys		UUP
1977	1978	James Stewart		UUP
1978	1979	David Cook		Alliance
1979	1980	Billy Bell		UUP
1980	1981	John Carson		UUP
1981	1982	Grace Bannister		UUP
1982	1983	Thomas Patton		UUP
1983	1985	Alfie Ferguson		UUP
1985	1986	John Carson		UUP
1986	1987	Sammy Wilson		DUP
1987	1988	J. J. Dixon Gilmore		UUP
1988	1989	Nigel Dodds		DUP
1989	1990	Reg Empey		UUP
1990	1991	Fred Cobain		UUP
1991	1992	Nigel Dodds		DUP
1992	1993	Herbert Ditty		UUP
1993	1994	Reg Empey		UUP
1994	1995	Hugh Smyth		PUP
1995	1996	Eric Smyth		DUP
1996	1997	Ian Adamson		UUP
1997	1998	Alban Maginness		SDLP
1998	1999	David Alderdice		Alliance
1999	2000	Bob Stoker		UUP

21st century

From	To	Name		Party
2000	2001	Sammy Wilson		DUP
2001	2002	Jim Rodgers		UUP
2002	2003	Alex Maskey		Sinn Féin
2003	2004	Martin Morgan		SDLP
2004	2005	Tom Ekin		Alliance
2005	2006	Wallace Browne		DUP
2006	2007	Patrick McCarthy		SDLP
2007	2008	Jim Rodgers		UUP
2008	2009	Tom Hartley		Sinn Féin
2009	2010	Naomi Long		Alliance
2010	2011	Pat Convery		SDLP
2011	2012	Niall Ó Donnghaile		Sinn Féin
2012	2013	Gavin Robinson		DUP
2013	2014	Máirtín Ó Muilleoir		Sinn Féin
2014	2015	Nichola Mallon		SDLP
2015		Arder Carson		Sinn Féin

Deputy Lord Mayors

20th century

From	To	Name		Party
1975	1977	Grace Bannister		UUP
1977	1978	Post vacant		Post vacant
1978	1979	Dorothy Dunlop		UUP
1979	1980	Post vacant		Post vacant
1980	1981	Post vacant		Post vacant
1981	1982	Frank Millar		Independent Unionist
1982	1983	Ted Ashby		DUP
1983	1984	Hugh Smyth		PUP
1984	1985	Billy Blair		UUP
1985	1986	Billy Dickson		DUP
1986	1987	Dixie Gilmore		UUP
1987	1988	Post vacant		Post vacant
1988	1989	Reg Empey		UUP
1989	1990	Post vacant		Post vacant
1990	1991	Eric Smyth		DUP
1991	1992	Herbert Ditty		UUP
1992	1993	Frank Millar		Independent Unionist
1993	1994	Hugh Smyth		PUP
1994	1995	Ian Adamson		UUP
1995	1996	Alasdair McDonnell		SDLP
1996	1997	Margaret Crooks		UUP
1997	1998	Jim Rodgers		UUP
1998	1999	Bob Stoker		UUP
1999	2000	Marie Moore		Sinn Féin

21st century

From	To	Name		Party
2000	2001	Frank McCoubrey		Ulster Democratic
2001	2002	Hugh Smyth		PUP
2002	2003	Post vacant		Post vacant
2003	2004	Margaret Crooks		UUP
2004	2005	Joe O'Donnell		Sinn Féin
2005	2006	Pat Convery		SDLP
2006	2007	Ruth Patterson		DUP
2007	2008	Bernie Kelly		SDLP
2008	2009	David Browne		UUP
2009	2010	Danny Lavery		Sinn Féin
2010	2011	William Humphrey		DUP
2011	2012	Ruth Patterson		DUP
2012	2013	Tierna Cunningham		Sinn Féin
2013	2014	Christopher Stalford		DUP
2014	2015	Maire Hendron		Alliance
2015		Guy Spence		DUP

See also

• Lord Mayor of Dublin
• Lord Mayor of Cork

References

External links

• List of Lord Mayors Belfast Council
• Belfast City Council. Lord mayor
• Former Lord Mayors recall chain of events, Belfast Newsletter
• CAIN: The Northern Ireland Senate, 1921-72

Belfast City Council General Belfast Belfast City Hall Coat of Arms and Motto People Councillors Aldermen Lord Mayor Deputy Lord Mayor High Sheriff Lord Lieutenant District Electoral Areas Balmoral Black Mountain Botanic Castle Collin Court Lisnasharragh Oldpark Ormiston Titanic Amenities Belfast Castle Belfast Zoo St George's Market Ulster Hall Waterfront Hall Parks and gardens Botanic Gardens Cave Hill Country Park Musgrave Park Ormeau Park Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park Victoria Park Cemeteries Balmoral Cemetery Belfast City Cemetery Clifton Street Cemetery Roselawn Cemetery Elections 2014 2011 2005 2001 1997 1993 1989 1985 1981 1977 1973 See also: Local government in Northern Ireland Category