Here’s another reason to be proud of Bristol. The City Council has just chosen a new Lord Mayor, and he’s gay. Peter Main is also chair of LGBT Bristol. He’ll take office in May. Full press release here.
Like many cities, Bristol is currently considering whether to go for an elected mayor. I venture to suggest that this would not have happened had elections been required.
Yay Bristol!
Does an elected mayor replace a Lord Mayor? Given that the Lord Mayoralty tends towards the ceremonial, they could presumably go hand in hand, unless an elected mayor is inclined to seize to themselves the ceremonial role as well as the chief-executive one. (There is I think still a Lord Mayor of London.)
I believe that Lord Mayors and mayors can coexist peacefully, but I don’t know enough about the subject to give any examples other than London.
As I understand it, the Lord Mayor of London is mayor of the City of London, that square mile of capitalist nirvana. That’s a very different post to the Mayor of London, who has responsibility over a much wider geographic area. London is, I believe, unique in having this distinction.