The City today elected David Lewis as the 680th Lord Mayor of the City of London, to serve from Friday 9 November (Lord Mayor’s Show and fireworks: Saturday 10 November).
David Lewis, who served as Sheriff of the City 2006-2007, is an eminent lawyer and City businessman who has been involved in many of the largest public company takeovers, both in the UK and across international borders.
The Lord Mayor is head of the City of London and acts as ambassador for the UK-financial services industry and spends three months a year leading City business delegations overseas – and also meeting leading overseas politicians and business leaders visiting London.
Working with FTSE 100 companies, global financial institutions and governments the Lord Mayor elect has spent much of his career helping businesses access global markets, advising on stock exchange listings, IPOs, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.
His dual charitable appeals will be for ORBIS and Wellbeing of Women, both practical health promotion agencies which tie in with keeping the City of London a healthy and vibrant place to work, live and visit. ORBIS works in some of the world’s poorest countries to eliminate avoidable blindness and Wellbeing of Women funds research into clinical issues affecting women’s reproductive health.
Speaking after his election, Lord Mayor Elect David Lewis said: "the Lord Mayor’s job of promoting the UK-based financial services industry has never been more important. City of London research out today still ranks London ahead of New York in the eyes of the business community, but in this era of globalisation we have to be ever more competitive.”
“The UK’s position in the global economy, hundreds of thousands of highly-skilled jobs across the UK and Europe and billions in taxes depend on the City of London’s success.”
David Lewis was brought up in the Far East and educated at the Dragon School and St Edward’s School in Oxford. He studied law at Jesus College Oxford, where he is now an Honorary Fellow.
He joined the City of London law firm Norton Rose as an articled clerk in 1969, and continued to work for them in London and Hong Kong for 37 years, being appointed as Senior Partner for six years before becoming a consultant in 2003.
David Lewis was elected as the Alderman for the Ward of Broad Street in the City of London in 2001 and has since served on several of the committees of the City of London Corporation. He is a keen supporter of the Livery movement. He is Junior Warden of the Solicitors’ Company and is also a Liveryman of the Fletchers’ Company and of the Welsh Livery Guild.
His voluntary work includes serving as Chairman of the Governors of the Dragon School and as an Almoner/Governor of Christ’s Hospital. He is a trustee of many charitable trusts including the Oxford University Law Faculty Trust, the Mansion House Scholarship Scheme, the Lord Mayor’s Trust for Charities, and the Norton Rose Charitable Foundation. He is a churchwarden of St Margaret Lothbury and he sits as a City magistrate.
David Lewis married Theresa Poole in 1970 and they have two married children – a son (Tom) and a daughter (Suzy). Theresa Lewis is a Liveryman of the Glaziers’ Company. She trained as a teacher and has also taught adult literacy. She is also an amateur potter and an artist. When not in London, Alderman and Mrs Lewis divide their time between their home in Oxford and a farmhouse in Carmarthenshire, where his Welsh forbears have farmed for generations.
The Lord Mayor Elect, as he is known after the election, does not take office until the Silent Ceremony, which is held in Great Hall, Guildhall on Friday 9 November at 3.00pm, the day preceding the Lord Mayor’s Show (Saturday 10 November). The Lord Mayor’s Banquet, at which the Prime Minister speaks, follows on Monday 12th November at Guildhall.