Find out more about the Mayoral Protocol and Background.

The office of Mayor is apolitical and represents the Borough at all Civic and Ceremonial occasions. The Mayor is by charter “The first citizen” and takes precedence over all people other dignitaries in the Borough except for Her Majesty, members’ of the Royal family and the Lord Deputy Lieutenant.  

The Deputy Lieutenant for Barking & Dagenham is Ian Pittaway and represents the Lord Lieutenant’s office. All invitations for the Deputy Lieutenant should be sent c/o the Mayor’s Office.

The Mayor’s Role

The role of the Mayor is to assist you in celebrating and recognising achievements and milestones. As the first Citizen, the protocol would be for the Mayor to formally open an event, or welcome guests, or maybe present awards. Given the numerous and varied events each year we appreciate that every function is unique.  Please feel free to contact the Mayor’s Office if you need to discuss arrangements.  If the Mayor is asked to speak then background information should always be provided. 

Arriving at a Function

The Mayor will plan to arrive at the arrival time requested and should be welcomed by a responsible official of the organisation who should act as escort throughout the event. We ask that you arrange for the Mayor to be introduced to those at the functions and briefed about the order of the proceedings etc.

The Mayor should be accompanied throughout the function until he is safely back in the mayoral car.

Changes

From time to time, the Mayor may be called upon to attend a Civic function at very short notice.

This is regrettable, but Civic functions must take precedence.

If this should happen then the Mayoral Officer will contact you to re-arrange Mayoral attendance, if possible.

Contacting the Mayor

Email invitations should be sent to: carlie.townsend@lbbd.gov.uk

Letters should be addressed to:

The Worshipful the Mayor of Barking and Dagenham

Mayor’s Parlour

1 Town Square

Barking

IG11 7LU

Church Services

If the Mayor is attending a Church service, the Mayoral Party should be met at the entrance to the Church and conducted to the front pew in the nave on the right of the centre aisle with the Mayor seated nearest the aisle. If there is no centre aisle, the Mayor should be seated in the middle of the front pew. The only exception to this practice is at a Funeral service when the Mayor takes the front pew on the left to allow the family mourners to sit on the right.

How to address the Mayor

The formal title ‘The Mayor’ is given irrespective of whether the Mayor is female or male in a speech. When writing to the Mayor, introducing them, or addressing the Mayor in a speech or at a function the title “Mayor” is used. More formally “The Worshipful the Mayor of Barking & Dagenham, Councillor ####” can be used when printing publications and invitation cards.

If the Mayor is female, she should be address in person as Madam Mayor, if the Mayor is male then he should be address as Mr Mayor.

Parking

To allow the Mayor to arrive on time we ask you to consider the most suitable parking area. The Mayor’s driver must leave the car safely parked to escort the Mayor into a building.  If parking is restricted, please let us know or suggest a practical alternative. We would ask you to consider offering the driver refreshments as a courtesy if the event is over a prolonged period.

Procedure

If the function is a Luncheon, a copy of the proposed Toast list should be forwarded to the Mayor’s office with the completed event Mayoral Engagement Form.  If this is not possible, it should be sent to reach the Mayor’s office no later than 14 working days prior to the engagement.  In the case of a Public Meeting or other similar events, a copy of the Agenda and any relevant papers should be forwarded with the event pro-forma or as soon as they are available.

Seating

The Mayor, as senior guest, as stated in Section 3(a) of the Local Government Act of 1972, should always be seated on the immediate right of the host at meetings and social events - such as lunches or dinners. The Mayoress or Consort should be seated next to the Mayor.

Speeches

At formal functions such as lunch or dinner within the borough, the Mayor’s presence as principal guest is to be acknowledged as follows:

• If the Mayor is not to make a speech and there are to be toasts, a formal toast should be to the “London Borough of Barking and Dagenham” immediately after the “Loyal Toast”.  The Mayor will then respond formally with a toast to the organisation.
• If the Mayor is to speak, they should be invited to propose or respond to the first toast after the “Loyal Toast”.  The formal toast to the Borough may be omitted in this case.

Timing of Functions

To help us plan the Mayors’ diary we ask that you give some consideration to the most suitable arrival time and the departure time for the Mayor. It may be important for the Mayor to arrive before a formal opening or for the Mayor to arrive at a specific point during a function.    

It is important to remember that when you invite the Mayor to attend an event in Barking and Dagenham that the Mayor is the principal guest and has a clearly defined role to perform, either this or there is a specific purpose for the Mayor’s visit.