Following a residents survey of our work and priorities earlier in the year, where the majority of respondents were indifferent at best to the mayoralty, and even more thought it was unimportant, my Council set up a working group to review our Civic & Ceremonial functions. They have been beavering away for the past couple of months and at their meeting last night they started considering the annual mayor making ceremony.
It would be safe to say there were a diverse range of opinions in the room (from those who would change absolutely nothing, to those who would scrap it entirely and some sitting somewhere in the middle).
Have any other Councils reviewed their Mayor Making in recent years.? If so, did you make any changes – what did you omit and what did you add or change?
I’m trying to reach a sensible middle ground, where we can gently update the traditions to make them a bit more accessible and relevant to our residents, but avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Hi at Torbay we keep our Mayor Making ceremony small it is held at 11 am in the morning and the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor can invite their guest (we allow up to 100 in the public seating area but mostly get around 20 to 30). We then hold the ceremony and swap chains and give speeches then we just have tea, coffee and biscuits available afterwards and we also use this opportunity for the Annual Photo which is taken by Council staff to reduce costs - you can view our proceedings on the website at Agenda for Council on Tuesday, 16 May 2023, 11.00 am (torbay.gov.uk). We then deal with the normal Council business at an adjourned meeting at 5.30 pm the same day. This stops people from coming to the adjourned one after a few beverages. We then hold a Civic Lunch or Civic Dinner on another occasion which has to be cost neutral from ticket sales. Many thanks Teresa Buckley, Torbay Council
Hi! Barnstaple TC here! The council isn’t reviewing us as they are all very PRO traditional civic but internally we are reviewing the budgeting side and attempting to make smaller changes to reduce the cost of the event. I would love to hear what other people are doing/trying.
Hello
Wokingham TC here!
We have recently removed the afternoon church service associated with our Mayor Making event, but no other changes to the ceremony itself, which is quite traditional. We have You Tube videos of our recent ceremonies, if they’re helpful to anyone!