Editor: Cllr Robert Davis. Secretary: Mrs Helen Watson, 7 Highview Court, 57a Augustus Rd, London SW19 6LU (tel: 020 8788 9656). Published by: The London Mayors’ Association, 8 Bentinck Street, London W1U 2BJ. Tel: 020 7486 9041

London Mayors’The

AssociationNEWSLETTER No. 20 Spring 2006

Inside: Annual Dinner •Ambassadors Dinner •US Ambassador’s Reception •Civic Service

www. londonmayors.org.uk

A record breaking sixty six members ofthe Association spent five enjoyable daysin both Washington DC and in Richmondthe capital of the neighbouring state ofVirginia.

After the initial lengthy flight and thetraumas of immigration control, membersspent the first night getting to know each

other over an informal supper party in theHotel situated close to the White House.For many this was the first visit to theUnited States and their first experience ofJet Lag. After pulling all the stringspossible, the London Mayors’ Associationwas granted a special tour of the WhiteHouse. Previously opened to the generalpublic, since September 11th, it is very

difficult to get a tour of the White Housebut at 7am on the Thursday morning all 66members of the delegation were queuingup in single file in alphabetical order withpassports in hand to go through theextensive security checks before they wereallowed in to the White House. Once inthey were able to stroll through thestunning state rooms at their own pace.

SPRINGTIME INWASHINGTON DC

The Cherry Blossom Treeswere just about to bloomwhen the London Mayors’Association made its AnnualForeign Civic Visit to theAmerican Capital in midMarch.

Members outside the Lincoln Memorial

20THIssue

Cllr Anne Mallinsonand FD Roosevelt’sdog at the RooseveltMemorial

Springtime in

The Members then moved on to theState Department were they wereprivileged to be given a series of briefingson a variety of international andenvironmental matters as well as afascinating in depth briefing on securitymatters. Thanks go to Ken Roy from theState Department in Washington whohelped organise the morning activities.

After a light lunch the group were givena special tour of the Capitol (includingan opportunity to sit in on the House ofRepresentatives in full session) and avisit to all the important parts of theCapitol, led by former Ambassador andformer Congressman Dick Swett. After

the Tour members were entertained bycongressman Tom Lantos and MrsMarjorie Kraus Chief Operating Officerof APCO, an international Public AffairsCompany in one of the Reception Roomswithin the Capitol, which varioussenators and congressmen attended.

Members then moved on to the Home ofthe Deputy British Ambassador (theAmbassador being out of town duringour visit) who superbly entertained theLondon Mayors’ Association to anevening reception at which manydistinguished guests from the localAmerican community and from theEmbassy were present.

Dinner that night was held in a superbrestaurant yards from the White Houseand then after such a long day membersretired early (except those who clingedto the Hotel bar until the early hours ofthe following morning).

Friday morning consisted of sight seeingincluding a Tour of Arlington Cemeteryand many of the famous memorialslining the Mall. Lunch was thenfollowed by a visit to the District ofColumbia City Hall where members metthe Mayor of Washington DC, MayorAnthony Williams. Friday afternoon wasspent touring the American HistoryMuseum part of the Smithsonian

The Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames unveils a plaque to commemorate thefact that Richmond Virginia is named after Richmond Upon Thames with theChief Executive and a Council member of Richmond Virginia Cllr Vanessa Graham enjoying a seafood dinner

Carole Franco & Cllr Bob Belam in theGovernor of Virginia’s Executive Mansion

Cllr Robert Davis, the Mayor of Washington DC& the Lord Mayor of Westminster

Ken Roy from the State Department, John Lebor with Cllrs Maureen &Richard Hoskins at the Deputy British Ambassador’s Residence

Hon. Robin Hope-Morley & Cllr Frances Blois in the Mall

Helen Watson fliesaway on her broom

WashingtonDC

Museum followed by a superb fish buffetdinner at a riverside restaurant.

Saturday saw the Group travel down toRichmond, the State Capital of Virginiawhere we were greeted by the Mayor (andformer Governor of Virginia), theHonourable Douglas Wilder. The Mayorhad been the first ever black governor of aState of America.

After meeting the Mayor memberstoured the Virginia Historical SocietyMuseum and enjoyed a sandwich lunchfollowed by a Coach Tour of thehistorical sites of Richmond. We werethen given an exclusive tour of theGovernor’s private mansion which is the

oldest Executive Mansion still in use inAmerica.

Richmond Virginia was named in 1733by William Boyd II after RichmondUpon Thames because the view fromRichmond Hill in London of themeandering Thames below looked solike the scene in Richmond Virgina withits own James River.

To commemorate the visit of the Mayorof Richmond upon Thames a plaque wasunveiled by the Mayor, Cllr Robin Jowit.After a period for shopping, membersthen enjoyed a superb meal at theTobacco Company Restaurant where thesize of the portions defeated everyone.

Sunday morning was more leisurely withvisits to various parts of the SmithsonianMuseum and a tour of the HolocaustMuseum before members gathered theirbelongings and returned to the Airportfor their overnight flight back to Londonand reality.

The trip was extremely successful andenjoyed by everybody who attended.Special thanks goes to Bob Bone and hiscolleagues who so professionally organisedthe logistics of the Tour. Thanks also go tohis colleague Stephanie Chesham Baileswho accompanied us throughout the tripand to Powell Johann who organised theVirginia part of the visit.

Cllr Robert Landeryou and AnneLanderyou outside the Governor ofVirginia’s Executive Mansion

The Lord Mayorof Westminster& the Mayor ofRichmond,Virginia (andformer Governorof Virginia)

Cllr Bryan Colier in the FD Roosevelt Memorial

The Mayor of Merton at the Vietnam MemorialCllr Dev Sharma at the Korean War MemorialCllr Maxi Martin & her son Paul Martin in the Holocaust Museum

The Members on Helen Watson’s bus outside the hotel

John Bolton Clark & Jenny Biancooutside the Lincoln Memorial

Cllr Lurline Champagnieat the memorial

for Eleanor Roosevelt

The usualflower table

decorations weregone as uniquely

and spectacularly, thecentre of the tables forthe 105th AnnualDinner were decorated

by hand carved vegetablesand fruit in the shape of flowers,

birds, fish and even an old boot. Master Chef Fangfrom Westminster’s Chinatown, spent a week,carving by hand, hundreds of pieces of fruit andvegetables to make the fantastic displays thatcovered all the tables. Although a food carver formany years, Master Chef Fang explained that thiswas the largest number of pieces he had carved forone function. The idea came from the Chairman,Councillor Robert Davis, who saw food carvingon his Summer Cruise through the Baltic. Usinghis local connection with the Chinese communityin Soho’s Chinatown he found Master Chef Fang,who agreed to undertake this mammoth task.

The Dinner was again held at theRaddison SAS Portman Hotelin Portman Square inCentral London and washosted by our President,the Lord Mayor ofWestminster, Cllr TimJoiner. The Guest of Honour

was the recently retired Dean

of Westminster,the Very Rev. Dr

Wesley Carr (who wasaccompanied by his wife

Natalie) who has hosted the LondonMayors’ Association Annual Civic Service in

the Abbey for the past nine years. Wesley retired asDean only a few days before the Dinner. On hisretirement, he was honoured by The Queen whoinvested him as a Knight of the Royal VictoriaOrder. His amusing and fascinating speech wasenjoyed by all the guests.

The Chairman, Cllr Robert Davis gave hisannual report on the previous year’s activitiesand welcomed all the VIP guests individually.The Lord Mayor of Westminster also spoke. TheDinner Guests were again superbly entertained bythe children of the Sylvia Young Theatre Schoolwho rocked and rolled down the aisles betweenthe guests.

Thanks go to everyone who helped to make theevening a great success including Helen Watsonand Robert Davis and to the sponsors of theevening, Vertex and the London Parade.

ANNUAL DINNER

Master Chef Fang and his Peacock The guest speaker Dr Wesley Carr KCVO

The Mayor of Kensington & Chelsea and GraniaNicoll (Lady Mayoress of Westminster designate)

Former Lord Mayor of London Alderman Sir Gavyn Arthur with NCP Chief ExecutiveBob Macnaughton (sponsor of this newsletter)

Cllr Nash Ali, Sheila Lyon & Cllr Sheila Peacock

Children of theSylvia YoungTheatre School

Natalie Carr & the Chairman

The Mayor of Richmond & Joy Manners

Former Mayors of Kensington & Chelsea

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Westminster and the Mayor and Mayoress of Waltham Forest

Stephen Bourne, Cllr June Fewtrell & Tony Kerslake‘take away’ the table decorations

The Civic Ambassador of Newham andthe Speaker of Hackney

Roses carved froma water melon

A swan

It has become traditional for the London Mayors’ Association’s Executive Committee toentertain the Mayors’ Secretaries and other senior Mayoral support staff to a lunch in theLord Mayor of Westminster’s Reception Rooms in Westminster City Hall.

Held this year at the end of January, the luncheon saw the largest attendance of secretariesand support staff since these lunches started. After a champagne reception, guests enjoyed asit down lunch and were able to socialise with each other as well as members of theExecutive Committee. For some Mayoral support staff, this was their first opportunity tomeet their counterparts in other Boroughs or to put faces to names and colleagues they had

only previously spoken to on the phone.

The Lord Mayor and the Chairman, Cllr Robert Davisboth gave speeches thanking the secretaries and supportstaff for all the work they do for the Mayoralty in

London, for individualMayors and for theLondon Mayors’Association.

The newly opened Princess AlexandraHall in the Royal Overseas League’sLondon Club House was the veryspecial venue for the Half YearlyGeneral Meeting of the LondonMayors’ Association which wasattended by over a hundred members.

Following the formalities of theGeneral Meeting, chaired by the LordMayor, members enjoyed a veryamusing and interesting speech by theChairman of the Royal OverseasLeague, Stanley Martin.

Stanley is a former First AssistantMarshal of the Diplomatic Corps andAssociate Head of the ProtocolDepartment at the Foreign andCommonwealth Office. Since retiring,he has been an Extra Gentleman Usherto The Queen as well as ProtocolConsultant to the Foreign andCommonwealth Office and others.Stanley has also been a keen supporterof the London Mayors’ Association

and has attended many events. Heregularly advises the Chairman onprotocol and diplomatic issues andaccordingly the Chairman wasdelighted to propose to the GeneralMeeting that Stanley Martin be madean Honorary member of theAssociation. This was agreedunanimously.

In his speech, Stanley told membersthat the London Mayors’ Associationhad been designated an affiliate groupof the Royal Overseas League,entitling members of the Associationto discount membership fees forjoining the Royal Overseas League,which brings with it a right to use thehigh quality Club House in Mayfair.More details are given elsewhere inthis Newsletter.

Thanks go to the Royal OverseasLeague for allowing us to use theirsplendidly renovated Hall and toHelen Watson for organising the event.

Annual Secretaries Lunch

Marie McCann (Merton) and Cllr Maxi Martin Sue Gross (Islington) and Elaine Ingram(Hackney)

Liz Ball (Harrow), Sarah Cooper (Westminster)and the Lord Mayor of Westminster

Half Yearly Meeting

Josie Cherrill , Christine Peters, Sheila Lyon & Cllr Heather Johnson

The Mayor of Kensington & Chelsea and Cllr Pat Twomey

The Mayors of Harrow & Barnet

The guest speaker and new honorarymember Mr Stanley Martin

The officers of the London Mayors’ Association Michael Chartres, Hon Treasurer

Stephanie Nunn(Newham) andCllr Pat Twomey

London’s boroughs gave the world awave – at the landmark New Year’sDay Parade, backed by the BBC.

A global telecast attracted a huge television audi-ence, approaching 200 million – and despite a tubestrike, hundreds of thousands packed the streets ofthe West End.

And at the 20th anniversary event everyone wasa winner – the entrants, the spectators and Londonas a whole.

Mayoral charities got a bumper boost from thegenerous street collection and a good numberpicked up parade prizes for their wonderfulentries.

An esteemed panel of international judges –including the US Ambassador, Robert HolmesTuttle, and the Russian Ambassador – had thetough task of adjudication. Winners of The Let’sHelp London Challenge are featured left.

And there were six Special Prizes awarded –each earning the recipient’s charity £1,000. These

Special Prize winners were, HAMMERSMITH &FULHAM, REDBRIDGE, BRENT, RICHMOND,BARKING & DAGENHAM and SOUTHWARK

Spectators got to have a say too, thanks to theBBC LONDON 94.9 PEOPLE’S PRIZE.

The winners were: 1st WESTMINSTER – £5,0002nd NEWHAM – £2,5003rd SUTTON – £1,500Bob Bone, Executive Director of the parade,

said: “The LMA plays a vital part in making theparade such a successful event.

“The fact is that every entry had a fantastic dayout – helping to raise the profile of their boroughand flying the flag for London. It is terrific fun –there’s no better way to start the year.

“Our main aim for 2007 is that every Londonborough participate in our 21st anniversary event.The world will be watching once more.”

� To secure your borough’s place contact the parade organisers on 020 8566 8586www.londonparade.co.uk

Boroughs gave the world a wave

THE LET’S HELP LONDON CHALLENGE2006

1ST MERTON £6,000Pleasures of Merton formed thetheme of this extraordinary entrybased on Merton Abbey Mills, avibrant cultural entertainmentcentre and weekend market.

2nd WESTMINSTER £5,000A Sixties entry that got theparade really swinging. TheBeatles, Carnaby Street andAustin Powers all made guestappearances.

3rd NEWHAM £4,000The borough made a real songand dance of its entry, celebratingThe Brick Lane Music Hall andits creator, Vincent Hayes.

and the former Deputy BritishAmbassador to Greece, Mr AndrewNoble LVO and his wife Helen.

The toast was given by Cllr RonnieRaymond Cox and the response, by thesenior Ambassador present, theAmbassador of Morocco.

Thanks go to Cllr Ronnie Raymond Coxwho as usual arranged for the diplomatsto attend but who announced hisretirement from this role at the Dinnerand that of his resignation from theLondon Mayors’ Association ExecutiveCommittee. Ronnie now wants to spendmore time with his wife Pip followingtheir move to Camberley. Thanks weregiven to him for his work over the pastfew years in making this now annualevent such a great success.

The diplomatic world was out inforce in December, attending the

annual London Mayors’ AssociationDiplomatic Dinner in the Lord Mayor ofWestminster’s Reception Rooms inWestminster City Hall.

Over a hundred guests were entertainedto a buck’s fizz reception followed by asuperb three course meal. Each table washosted by a Mayor and joined by anAmbassador or High Commissioner.

The diplomatic guests included theAmbassadors of Sweden, the DominicanRepublic, Finland, Austria, Morocco,Belgium, Mexico, Egypt and the HighCommissioners of New Zealand, Cyprus& Pakistan. Other guests included theMarshal of the Diplomatic Corps SirAnthony Figgis and his wife Lady Figgis

The Ambassador ofMorocco giving hisspeech watched bythe Lord Mayor

AMBASSADORSDINNER

The Belgian Ambassador and William C Smith OBE

The Mayor of Wandsworth & Stephanie Brahams

Cllr Ronnie Raymond Cox welcomes the Diplomatic guests. The Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps and the Chairman Cllr Ronnie Barden & the Moroccan Ambassador and his wife

The Speaker of Hackney and her escort for theevening

The Mayor of Lambeth & her consort The High Commissioner of Cyprus and the Mayor of Barnet

Those Members who joined the LondonMayors’ Association trip to WashingtonDC were invited just days before theyleft for the States, to meet the newlyarrived American Ambassador to theCourt of St. James, Mr Robert HolmesTuttle and his wife, at a reception givenby the Ambassador at his stunningresidence in Regent’s Park.

Winfield House occupies twelve and ahalf acres of the northwest side ofRegent’s Park and now boasts the secondlargest private garden in London afterBuckingham Palace. In 1936 the originalhouse that stood on this site was partlydestroyed by fire and was subsequentlybought by Barbara Hutton, the world-famous heiress, who was then onlytwenty-four years old.

Married at that time to Count Haugwitz-Reventlow, Barbara Hutton was soconcerned about threats to kidnap theirson Lance, that they decided to giveup their house near Marble Arch inLondon and look for somethingbigger and more secure. Threeyears earlier she had inheritedsome $40 million from hergrandfather, Frank WinfieldWoolworth, founder of theWoolworth store chain. Friendssuggested this site might be justright for the kind of homeBarbara Hutton was seeking.Impressed by the peace and security of

the grounds, she decided to buy and inAugust 1936 the Crown EstateCommission gave permission for the oldwhite stucco Regency villa to be pulleddown and a red brick Georgian stylehouse built in its place.

In 1939, with World War II about toerupt and her marriage to CountReventlow ending, Barbara Huttonreturned to America. Winfield Housewas commandeered and used by an RAFbarrage balloon unit. The windows wereboarded up and balloons festooned thegardens.

A year after the war ended, BarbaraHutton came back to visit Winfield

House. She found buckled floor-boards, peeling walls, broken windowsand dangling wires. The next day shetelephoned her New York lawyer andtold him she wanted to give the houseto the U.S. Government to be repairedand used as the official residence of theAmerican Ambassador to the Court ofSt. James’s. Her “most generous andpatriotic offer” was accepted in apersonal letter from President HarryTruman. For the token price of anAmerican dollar, Winfield Housepassed into official Americanownership.

Winfield House is unique amongAmerican residences in that not only wasit originally a gift to U.S. Governmentbut it has since been showered withriches in the form of antique furniture,paintings, porcelain, china, glass,

chandeliers, objets d’art.

After a talk in the ChineseDrawing Room from theAmbassador about what toexpect on our trip, membersmingled with senior diplomatsfrom the Embassy and lookedaround the amazing house. Atruly awe inspiring start to our2006 Annual Civic Foreign Visitand a taste of the hospitalityawaiting for us on the other sideof the Atlantic.

(Photos courtesy of Ronnie Barden)

The Ambassador, Rona Shaw, the Lord Mayor and Mrs TuttleThe Ambassador’s wife, Mrs Tuttle and Rosemarie Barden

Cllr Ronnie Barden, Cllr Inder Singh Jamu, Cllr Bryan Collier,Cllr Marie Collier & Colin Ormsby

Cllr Lurline Champagnie, Sue and Anthony Polydorou enjoythe canapes

Cllr Dev and Sushil Sharma examine a book in the Library John & Rose Lebor with a diplomat from the Embassy

The Chairman with the Ambassador & Mrs Tuttle

American Ambassador’s Reception

The annual walk in the footsteps of Dick Whittington from Highgate Hill toMansion House was re-enacted in April when most of this year’s Mayors and anentourage of London Mayors’ Association members and supporters succeeded inreaching Mansion House within a reasonable time where the Lord Mayor ofLondon handed out certificates and walkers enjoyed a light but refreshing lunch.

The walk itself was led by the Lord Mayors of London and Westminsterfollowed closely behind by the Sheriffs and the other Mayors, stopping only at

the half way point for a well earned pint.

Thanks goes to Graham Holland andhis wife Margaret for organising the

event and to the WhittingtonHospital who arranged a warmingand welcoming breakfast before thewalk started.

Photos from the 2006 Walk willappear in the next newsletter as thisEdition of the Newsletter went topress too early.

The Royal Over-Seas Leagueoffers a special scheme tomembers of the LondonMayors’ Association underwhich they can becomemembers of the League at aspecially reduced annualsubscription, paying only 50%of the entrance fee, andwithout the need to provide aproposer and seconder.

The League has splendid clubhouses inLondon and Edinburgh. The Londonheadquarters and clubhouse (shownhere) is a fine period property adjoiningGreen Park in the heart of the West End,offers members a garden, buttery,restaurant, bar, gracious drawing rooms,80 bedrooms and reception rooms.

In Edinburgh, at 100 Princes Street,directly opposite and with unrestrictedviews of Edinburgh Castle, members canenjoy the superb facilities at the League’sScottish clubhouse.

THE LONDON MAYORS’ ANNUAL WALK

The 2005 Mayors Walk starting its way from Highgate Hill.

The Royal Over-Seas League

(From the 2005 Walk) The thenLord Mayor of London Alderman Sir Michael Savory, enjoys arefreshing break with the thenMayor of Islington

With a long history ofinternational friendship, newmembers can be assured of avery warm welcome.

The 2006 membership sub-scriptions are: £217 plus ajoining fee £56 for thoseliving within a 50-mile radiusof central London; and £116plus a joining fee of £31 forcountry members living

outside the 50-mile radius from London.

If you wish to take up this offer ofmembership of the Royal Over-SeasLeague, an application form can beobtained from:

The Membership Secretary, Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House, ParkPlace, St James’s Street, London SW1A1LR, UK. Tel: 020 7408 0214, Fax: 0207499 6738. E-mail: fvanicek@rosl.org.uk.

Mention your membership of the LondonMayors’ Association.

The Mayor ofWaltham Foresthas his jabotstraightened

The Mayor of Southwark is greeted by Cllr Peter Gardner

The Mayor of Kingston Upon Thames with his entourage

The Lord Mayor, Raine Countess Spencer and Peter Moore,the London Town Crier

The new London Mayors’ Association range of gifts is stillavailable for Members to purchase. The range includes twostyles for cufflinks, lapel pins and brooches. They can bepurchased either as a cut-out of the full coat of arms or as ashield. The Lapel pins can also be purchased either with asingle straight pin and clasp at the rear (to go through a lapelhole and fastened at the back) or with a safety pin clasp at therear (ie affixed like a brooch). New style Ties are also availablein blue, red, green and yellow.

Cufflinks £ 20.00 Badges £ 5.00Brooches £ 7.50 Ties £ 20.00

Old Style TiesA number of the old style Ties are still available in Red, Blue& Green. They are narrower than the new style ties and justhave a single coat of arms at the top of the tie when worn.These are available at £5.00 each.

New London Mayors’Association Shields for sale

The London Mayors’ Association crest mounted on a woodenplaque to hang on the wall is now available to buy. The shieldsare £40.00 each. They are very impressive hung above thefireplace at home.

Orders for all the above can be made using the enclosed orderform or by contacting Cllr Robert Davis at 8 Bentinck StreetLondon W1U 2BJ (020 7486 9041).

The impressive new LondonMayors’ Association Shield

The Civic Service

The Procession of Mayors

The Mayor of Wandsworth

The bells of Westminster Abbey rang out as a series of Mayorallimousines swung into Deans Yard within the Abbey precinct on aSunday afternoon in October to herald the Annual London Mayors’Association Civic Service.

Led by the Chairman of the Greater London Assembly, BaronessHamwee, the Mayors of each of the London Boroughs processed in fullcivic state. Attended by their macebearer carrying the Borough Mace,they were led though the Abbey grounds to the Great West Door of theAbbey where they were received by the Lord Mayor of Westminster asDeputy High Steward of the Abbey and members of the Abbey Chapter.

The service comprised a beautiful evensong sung by the superb AbbeyChoir and Lessons read by the Lord Mayor and the Lord Lieutenant. Theinteresting and relevant Sermon was given by Canon Robert Reiss.

After the Service, members retired to the Great Hall of WestminsterSchool (courtesy of the Head Master), where they enjoyed a reception ofwine and afternoon sandwiches and cakes. Speeches were given at theReception by the Sub Dean and the Speaker’s Chaplain Canon RobertWright, the Lord Mayor and the Chairman Cllr Robert Davis.

LondonMayors’AssociationGifts

VISIT TO THE NATIONALARMY MUSEUM By Cllr Doreen Weatherhead In October thirty members and friends paid a most enjoyablevisit to the National Army Museum in Chelsea. The visit beganwith a short talk by Julian Farrance telling us the history ofthe Army’s uniforms and early weaponry. Julian was sointeresting that the talk continued for longer than anticipatedwith most of us inspecting the uniforms and rifles he wasdemonstrating and there were lots of questions to him.

We then started our tour, seeing the history of the Armythrough the years, and everyone wandered around, studyingthose exhibits which interested them most. These includedpieces of previous engagements over the years, with replicauniforms and many photographs including of course a largeamount of material from World War II. There is also a mostimpressive collection of medals from all ranks, Privates toField Marshals, and of many military engagements.

After the tour, we had a splendid tea and we were delightedthat Julian and the Director Mr. Alan Guy, were able to join us,especially as Alan Guy had served as Mayor’s Consort to theMayor of Merton, when his wife was Mayor, so he felt quite athome and was pleased that we had come to his Museum.

The Mayor of Merton being chained up

21 Bryanston Street, Marble Arch, London W1H 7ABThis newsletter is sponsored by:

Forthcoming EventsConference for new MayorsIt has been decided to host aconference on Saturday 3 June 2006 atWestminster City Hall, to brief newlyinstalled Mayors on the role of beingMayor and to enable Mayors to give tipson how to be an effective leader of yourlocal community. For details contact Cllr Ronnie Barden on 020 8989 3929.

Other EventsPlease see inserts for details of otherforthcoming events. Details of eventsincluding the Annual General Meetingin July (date to be confirmed) will besent to all members in the Summer.

LONDON MAYORS’ MASONIC LODGEThere is a London Mayors’ MasonicLodge which was formed in 1911 inorder that Mayors and Past Mayors ofLondon Borough could meet and wherethe discussion of politics and religion wasnot permitted. That rule still holds goodand the Lodge, although it now has anopen membership and with four pastMayors still in active membership,continues to meet regularly inFreemasons Hall and dines together afterthe meeting. If you would like furtherdetails, please contact Cllr Albert Kanjeeon 01494 873707 or Malcolm Hall on0208 857 6286.

Local ElectionsMost members of the London Mayors’Association have been heavily involved inthe local Elections in London. Some

Ten years ago, Brian Basham a leadingPublic Affairs Consultant used hisconnections with the national media torestore a two minutes silence at 11am on theeleventh day of November and not just onRemembrance Sunday. In 2005, workingwith the Lord Mayor of London and ourChairman, Cllr Robert Davis, Brian and theLondon Mayors’ Association went one stagefurther by encouraging each of the LondonMayors to stage a two minutes silence at11am on Friday 11th November.

This time in order to remind the localcommunity of the time, Brian persuadedmany of the Mayors to set off a maroon.With the support of the Chairman of theInter-Continental Hotel Group, Mayors wereinvited to a lunch at the Inter-ContinentalHotel on Park Lane and encouraged (over anexcellent lunch) to participate.

On the day itself, most of the LondonMayors were involved in an appropriateceremony whilst several arranged for amaroon to be fired. In Westminster, theLord Mayor accompanied by ourChairman Cllr Robert Davis and BrianBasham and his wife, attended a movingceremony at the barracks of the Kings’sTroop in St. John’s Wood where the entirecompany stood to attention as the LordMayor fired a cannon at 11am.

In 2006, the 11th day of November falls onthe same day as the Lord Mayor of London’sShow and so all Mayors will be outside theMansion House at 11am. In 2007 the 11thof November is a Sunday but it is hoped thatin 2008 the new tradition will be repeatedthroughout London and other parts of theCountry.

members will have been re-elected,others will have retired after many yearsof loyal and dedicated service to theirBorough whilst others will have soughtelection but found the electoratepreferred another candidate.

What ever happened to you, the LondonMayors’ Association will always be therefor you to meet up with friends andformer colleagues. If you have more timeon your hands after years of back to backcouncil meetings, consider getting moreinvolved with the London Mayors’Association.

If you are no longer a councillor, pleaselet Helen Watson know (020 8788 9656or helenm.watson@tiscali.co.uk) so shecan amend our database and ensure thatfuture correspondence is correctlyaddressed.

The Eleventh of the Eleventh

The Lord Mayor fires the 11am gun salute at the King’s Troop’s Barracks

The Lord Mayor of Westminster, his escort and Mr & Mrs Brian Basham

NCP celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, and are delighted to support the London Mayors’ Association.

We first began operating in the capital in 1931 and are now one of London's major employers,

with car parks throughout the 33 boroughs, and provision of parking management services

to 11 London local authorities.