Press releases The Lord Mayor's Show in numbers
Wednesday 14 October 2009

Alderman Nick Anstee, on the occasion of his election as Lord Mayor of London

Notes for Editors

For further information, please contact Lesley Mair at the City of London Corporation on 020 7332 1754 or by email: Lesley.Mair at cityoflondon.gov.uk.

The Role of the Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor of the City of London is an international ambassador for the UK financial services industry and spends up to 80 days a year traveling to around 20 countries to promote this industry and the Square Mile as a place of excellence in which to do business.

As head of the City of London the Lord Mayor is involved with local government and London-wide issues, ranging from the City of London’s work in the regeneration of neighbouring boroughs to transport and environmental issues which affect the City.

On behalf of the Sovereign and the Government, he also acts as host when the City of London provides hospitality for visiting heads of state and foreign dignitaries. In addition, the Lord Mayor provides a platform for Government Ministers to make keynote speeches. The Prime Minister attends the Lord Mayor’s annual Banquet at Guildhall, whilst the Bankers’ Dinner each June is the occasion for the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s annual keynote speech, known as the Mansion House Speech. The Easter Banquet, also held at Mansion House, is the major annual opportunity for all London’s diplomats to listen to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary. Other Cabinet members and international business figures also value these opportunities.

The Lord Mayor also presides over meetings of the Court of Common Council and Court of Aldermen, and attends Livery events and charitable projects. He receives visiting overseas ministers and senior businessmen and keeps in close contact with City institutions and firms as well as travelling to other UK financial centres to keep in touch with regional economic activity. In his year of office he will make some 600 speeches on a wide variety of subjects from City financial matters to charity and patronage.

City of London Corporation

The ancient City of London Corporation has a 21st-century role supporting the business city as the world’s leading international financial and business centre. The City of London Corporation provides local government services for the City of London Square Mile at the heart of London but its responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and include paying for and running the Barbican Centre, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health Authority.

Dating back to 1215, the Lord Mayor’s inaugural outing is now an established highlight in London’s social calendar – on Saturday 14 November the 682nd Lord Mayor of the City of London will travel from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice and back again as part of the Lord Mayor’s Show.

In 2008, the procession attracted 450,000 people from all across London, the UK and indeed the world, whilst the UK television audience numbered nearly 2 million viewers. The show’s organisers are confident of surpassing these figures in 2009.

In a spectacular flypast, two Typhoon fighter jets and one C17 transport aircraft provided by RAF Cranwell will speed over Mansion House at 11.05 am to mark the official start of the parade’s 1.2 mile outward journey.

Floats from the 63 participating organisations comprising 122 motorised vehicles, 149 horses and 23 bands will then travel from Mansion House to St Paul’s Cathedral where the Lord Mayor will be blessed by the Dean of St Paul’s. They will then move on to the Royal Courts of Justice for the Royal Oath during which the Lord Mayor will swear his allegiance to The Queen before the Lord Chief Justice and Judges of the Queen’s Bench Division.

More than 6,000 people, including representatives from as far away as Gibraltar and Hong Kong, will come together to form a procession measuring 2.9 miles in length to celebrate the City’s proud cultural heritage and to revel in its diverse modernity.

In keeping with tradition, and following the recent commemorative service held at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark the cessation of combat operations in Iraq, the armed forces will again play a significant role in the Show. In addition to the RAF flypast, 25 military units will be represented, bringing with them 11 military bands and 60 military horses.

Behind all of this pageantry comes the Lord Mayor, travelling in his 252 year old State Coach and accompanied on his journey by his Chaplain, the Sword Bearer and the Common Cryer and Serjeant-at-Arms. The instantly recognisable, gold-plated Lord Mayor’s State Coach weighs in at nearly 3 tonnes and is by far the most famous of the 18 carriages taking part in this year’s Show.

The return journey will set off at 1pm along Victoria Embankment and proceed to Mansion House, where the newly sworn-in Lord Mayor arrives to be greeted by the City Aldermen and livery company Masters in their colourful gowns.

The day culminates in a breath-taking fireworks extravaganza, launched from a barge moored between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges on the Thames from 5pm.