Roles and responsibilities

The Mayor is The First Citizen of the Borough.

The Mayor’s role in the borough is a non-political, civic role and the Mayor receives several hundred invitations a year.

The Mayor is appointed annually by the Council from amongst the Councillors. The Deputy Mayor is appointed by the Mayor annually from amongst the Councillors.

The Mayor also chooses a Mayoress or Mayor’s Escort who can accompany the Mayor to Mayoral engagements.

The Deputy Mayor may stand-in for the Mayor whenever the Mayor is unable to act (for example, due to an overlap of events).

If the Deputy Mayor is also unavailable to perform a Mayoral role or function the Mayor may request a former Mayor of the Borough, to act in their place for that particular occasion.

The Mayor promotes the Council as a whole and acts as a focal point for the community, promoting citizenship, participation and social cohesion.

The Mayor presides over civic functions and leads the Council’s support and activities for Remembrance Sunday, Holocaust Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day and other similar locally marked national events.

The Mayor acts as a non-partisan ambassador of the Council at notable events, for example, in meeting and greeting members of the Royal Family and international delegations.

The Mayor promotes local charitable and voluntary causes where they benefit the people of Barnet. The Mayor also personally selects a local charity or charities and raises funds specifically for it or them during their year of office.

The Mayor puts forward local people who are deemed to be deserving for national awards and honours (for example, local people who have made a unique or exceptional contribution to the Borough in a voluntary capacity).

Check the council constitution

Chairing meetings of the Council

The Mayor will have the following responsibilities to:

• uphold and promote the purposes of the Constitution, and to interpret it when necessary
• preside over meetings of the Council, so that its business can be carried out efficiently and with regard to the rights of Councillors and the interests of the community
• ensure that the Council meeting is a forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local community and the place at which Councillors who are not on the Executive are able to hold the Executive Members to account
• promote public involvement in the Council’s activities; such other duties that may fall to the Mayor to exercise by virtue of statute or this Constitution

In the absence of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor will chair meetings of the Council with the agreement of the Council. 

In the absence of both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the Council will, as a first item of business, appoint 1 of its members to chair the meeting.