Soulsby accused of diluting Lord Mayor's role at events
The historic role of Lord Mayor is being overshadowed by mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, some councillors have claimed.
Conservative Ross Grant said he feared events were being cherry picked by officials for the mayor.
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Ross Grant
Coun Grant said: "People ask for the Lord Mayor at events for a reason – the post is not party political and they represent the entire city as the first citizen.
"People like the regalia which goes with the mayor's position, the chains and the history. The people of Leicester like having a Lord Mayor – it sets us apart from many other cities.
"But I fear that we're going to dilute the role as a result of having a city mayor."
An unnamed source close to Lord Mayor Robert Wann, said: "The cream is being skimmed from the top of the Lord Mayor's engagements and it won't be long until it comes to a head in the Labour group."
A senior Labour councillor said: "I don't think the mayor should be getting involved in the kind of events that the Lord Mayor has traditionally done.
"Mayors should run the city, while Lord Mayors should take care of public events."
Sir Peter said there was a "fairly pragmatic" arrangement in place for events.
He said: "If it's an event which receives council funding or support, then the public expects politicians to be there.
"If it's a civic event, then that's for the Lord Mayor.
"There are some events which fall between those two and we discuss those as they arise. It's also up to organisers of events to decide who they'd like."
A city council spokesman said: "The city mayor would normally attend an event which was a political matter or one of council policy, such as publicity for one of the administration's 100 day pledges.
"On the other hand, the Lord Mayor would attend events where his role would fulfil a purely civic or ceremonial function.
"In cases such as major faith events or Remembrance Day, for example, it could be appropriate for both mayor and Lord Mayor to attend.
"But we try to keep these to a minimum because of the extra cost of both of them being involved."
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by BlackAD
Wednesday, August 10 2011, 9:44AM
“Sorry, but i'd choose a Knight of the Realm over the landlord of a controversial pub anyday. Is there really much importance to the lord mayor's role in this day an age in relation to Peter Soulsby's?”
by SiPLeic
Wednesday, August 10 2011, 1:12AM
“Leicester played a significant role in the history of England, when Simon de Montfort forced King Henry III to hold the first Parliament of England at the Leicester Castle in 1265 -- 746 years ago and we are only now playing catch-up with London and other large cities which already have elected mayors.
Living in the past hinders progress -- soon we'll have people clamouring for Dick Whittington (and his cat) ...
Labour now holds 54 of the 56 council seats, elected in accordance with the law by the people of Leicester. Peter Soulsby won a majority of the votes and like it or not, was elected Mayor of Leicester. Nobody imposed the election results on us, so live with it.
NB: Leicestershire has almost as many active and retired Lord Lieutenants as the City has Councillors (http://tinyurl.com/3ksc6fp). I thought there were only half a dozen or so! What purpose do these people serve?”
by Eastonian
Tuesday, August 09 2011, 10:23AM
“The fact is, redcat, why do we need an 'Elected' Mayor when the folk of Leicester weren't given a Referendum on this change in local governance as the Coalition Government requested? Soulsby has been foisted on the citizens of Leicester whether they liked it or not, whether they wanted it or not.
The ceremonial Lord mayor is an historical and traditional position, a position of respect until the recent years when it has been sullied by some folk obviously not suitable for the job.”
by DonHenson
Tuesday, August 09 2011, 6:01AM
“Robert Wann is notoriously controversial, and an object of derision for many.
Given the choice I'd invite Sir Peter over Cllr Wann any day.”
by redcat
Monday, August 08 2011, 9:29PM
“Why do we need a ceremonial Lord Mayor now we have an elected mayor we chose? I know getting their turn at wearing the chain of office is a reward for those who serve on the council but can we really afford that at the moment?”
by lissabeth
Monday, August 08 2011, 2:42PM
“sorry to be objective .....vaz is like the king with no clothes(partially) !”
by AnotherPlanet
Monday, August 08 2011, 1:13PM
“Amazing how people have managed to get Keith Vaz into these comments. He is clearly the Darth Vader of Leicester ! Well, in some people's eyes anyway.
Is this actually a story? A disaffected Tory politician having a whinge about who should or should not attend public events? Come on Mercury, you can do better.
BTW: lissabeth, the term is "all mouth and trousers", meaning "a loud-mouthed, blustering fellow." I think you're thinking of someone else when you speak of "no trousers" :)”
by 123452010
Monday, August 08 2011, 1:12PM
“Ross grant likes to get into the mercury a lot”
by Eastonian
Monday, August 08 2011, 12:28PM
“If I was organising an event in Leicester I'd want the ceremonial Lord Mayor to attend not the one who is only in Office through manipulation of a now defunct system!!”
by lissabeth
Monday, August 08 2011, 11:30AM
“additional comment............if vaz was as good for his constituency as he clearly was when chairing the `hacking`meetings we would appreciate him more locally.he must be coaching soulsby !”