All the things you wanted to know but did not know who to ask?

This page will be updated soon.

Who is the Mayoral team for the year 2001/2002?

The Mayoral team for the year 2000/2001 consists of:

Mayor - Councillor Jeremy Thorn (Labour)

Mayoress - Councillor Thorn's wife Barbara Thorn

Deputy Mayor - Councillor Steve Mamma (Labour)

Deputy Mayoress - Councillor Mamma's sister Joanna Efstathiou

Mayoral Charities for the year:

• The Archway Trust
• Riding for the Disabled
• The Shooting Star Trust

Who were the outgoing Mayoral team for the year 2000/2001?

The Mayoral team for the year 200/2001 consists of:

Mayor - Councillor Shiraz Mirza

Mayoress - Mrs Naheeda Mirza 

Deputy Mayor - Councillor Ian McDonald 

Deputy Mayoress - Mrs Heather McDonald  

How can I get a member of the Mayoral team to visit the function I am running?

The Mayors diary is fairly grueling, diary entries are well planned out in advance.  Either the Mayor or Deputy Mayor usually endevour to cover engagements when asked.  However this has to fit around other commitments and appointments.  Very occasionally, both will attend when both are invited.

Invitations should be addressed to either the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor at: 

Mayor's Parlor, 

Guildhall, 

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, 

Surrey

KT1 1EU 

Can you have a Lady as Mayor and a man as Mayoress?

Yes.  Any councillor can be elected as Mayor or Deputy Mayor.  A Male Mayor is usually addressed as Mr Mayor, while a lady Mayor is addressed as Madam Mayor.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor appoint their escorts.  Often a partner, son or daughter is chosen, however this can just as easily be a friend.  If they are female they are referred to as the Mayoress or Deputy Mayoress.  If male they are called the Consort or Deputy Consort.  The escourt even does not have to be a member of the opposite sex.  It is not uncommon for a Mayor to appoint a friend as their consort.

The Mayor has a large car RBK1 does he keep it?

No.  The boroughs previous old Daimler use to break down a lot, under the ever increasing workload.  This cost the rate payer for the constant maintenance, not to mention the uneconomic cost of petrol in such an old car.  One past Mayor (Liberal Democrat Councillor Brian Bennett) hit upon the idea of asking a car dealer to sponsor the Mayors car. Since then the Daimler was sold and a local dealer has provided a BMW at a very nominal monthly rental greatly limiting the cost to the rate payer.  In return a small sticker is displayed in the rear window.  The firm maintain the car and exchange it about three times a year, transferring the famous RBK1 number plate.

The Deputy Mayor on occasions will use the Mayors Car or be driven in one of the council pool cars.

Does the Mayor have a body guard?

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are usually chauffeured.  This is for several reasons. On a practical reason it is usually difficult to park and approach in the dignified fashion that residents would like to see their Mayor arrive.  However the main job of the chauffeur is to guard the historic chains of office.  Sadly the Mayoress's chain has vanished in 1999 and the new Mayoress now wears a duplicate pendant on another chain.

If one of the Mayoral team fell in the Thames wearing a chain, then those diving in would be trying to save the chains.

Does the Deputy Mayor become the Mayor next year?

In some councils this is the case.  However in Kingston this is up to the full council to elect a new Mayor each year.  Councillor Ian McDonald, when  Deputy Mayor commented that it would be impractical for him to become a Mayor in any case at this time in his life.  "Having a young family, being a back bench councillor and having to earn a living would be too much.  Really the job of the Mayor is intended for someone who has independent financial income from a pension or other source, I feel quite privileged to be able to support our Mayor for this year".

In the past on one occasion Liberal Democrat Councillor Brian Bennet was Mayor and his Deputy Mayor was Councillor Chrissie Hitchcock.   Two years later the successful Mayoral pair were re-appointed by the council but in swapped rolls, Chrissie becoming the Mayor and Brian the Deputy Mayor.

Does the Mayor run the council?

The Mayor of Kingston council is very different to the Mayor of London.   The council is actually run by the leader of the council and his cabinet.  This year all the councillors on the cabinet, like the leader of the cabinet are from the larger Conservative party (there are no Liberal Democrats or Labour councillors on the Cabinet - however they do play a much larger roll in the scrutiny committees looking at Conservative decisions and on New Malden and Chessington Neighbourhood where they have the higher concentration of councillors).  

The Conservative Cabinet decide the Council policy and bring their decisions to the council.  The job of the Mayor (who this year is from the main opposition Liberal Democrat party) is to ensure that each item at full council is debated fairly and ensure that the rules of debate (standing orders agreed by all parties) for the borough are abided by.  There also exists on Kingston council the smaller Labour party and an break away (independent) Conservative.

At full council it is unusual for the Mayor or Deputy Mayor to speak as they need to be impartial.  The Deputy Mayor assists the Mayor in running the debate and so do the work of a vice chair.  However if the Mayor was unable to attend a Council meeting, then the council would have to decide if they wanted the Deputy Mayor to chair proceedings and instead may decide to appoint a past Mayor on or some other councillor on that occasion and leave the Deputy to continue with the support work.  This is really down to the business of the day and the current political makeup of the council.

Does the Mayor earn a lot of money?

All councillors receive a basic allowance.  Their council duties do not constitute their main job and they are expected to do all their council duties during their spare time.  Fortunately many employers are supportive to staff giving their time to the local community, whether this is working within the Territorial Army, Police Specials or as a Councillor.  

Pay use to be based on the number of official meetings they attended as a participating member.  However councillors often have to do far more work than just the official meetings and so a review of the work done by councillors was undertaken across the country, to try and bring the method of payment in line with full time politicians such as MP's.  The Deputy Mayor receives the same allowance as if he were a back bench councillor, small very modest allowances may be made for clothing.  In a normal Mayoral year it is quite normal for a Mayor to totally wear out a suit of clothes (usually because of the broach pins on the chain of office).  Many of the functions also require the Mayor to wear special clothing that perhaps they would not normally buy. 

The highest paid councillor in Kingston is the Conservative Leader of the Council.

It should be realised that over the years Mayors from all parties put in a tremendous amount of work and their own personal finance into the job.  The rewards for those individuals are to see at first hand a much fuller picture of the many people in our community who give their time free of charge to helping Kingston and the joy of seeing so much good done through the charitable work.

Allowances for councillors are published each year in the council minutes, available through all Kingston libraries.  Out of that allowance, a councillor would have to pay for: Phone calls, stationary, postage, travel and account for loss of earnings from his or her main job (this might happen if a councillor has to take time off work to deal with council business).  The allowance is also taxable.

As a rough indicator a back bench councillor would expect to earn £3,750 a year in Kingston now.  Bear in mind that a council meeting can take up to 5 hours (after a days normal work), there will be documents to read in preparation for that meeting and other meetings to attend with residents, colleagues and council officers (un-elected civil servants).  The actual payment on an hourly basis is really designed so as not to bar any individual from wanting to stand for council and so serve the community.  It is not designed to provide full time paid employment, but to compensate for expenditure and loss of income.  The only exception possibly being the leader of the council and key cabinet members.

When does the Mayor wear regalia?

The full regalia consists of a red woolen robe trimmed with fur (actually Kingston's robes use fake fur).  A jabot (a white frilly collar bib), a badge of office (worn on a chain or a ribbon around the neck), plus white gloves and a  hat (both of which may be carried).

The complete outfit is usually only worn on important ceremonial occasions.  It is usual for the Mayor to wear the badge of office on a ribbon or chains.  Some mayors however in the past have been known to wear the full regalia on as many occasions as possible.  The woolen outfit however is very hot to wear in the summer.

Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor have a mace.  The Mayors Mace is paraded at full council, while the Deputy Mayors mace is usually only paraded with the Mayor's at civic ceremonies.  The Deputy Mayor's mace can sometimes be viewed at Kingston Museum.

Do the Mayor and Deputy Mayor wear the same regalia?

No.  The fur trim on the deputy mayors robes are narrower and the chains and badge of office are different.  Sometimes, however a Mayor has been known to wear the deputy Mayor's robes to play down the amount of fur present, even though it is actually synthetic (not real).

Does the Mayores and Deputy Mayores wear regalia?

 No.  But they do wear a badge of office.  These can be worn as a broach, on a chain, or on a ribbon around the neck.

When does the Mayor wear chains and when does he wear a ribbon?

In Kingston the Mayor nearly will always were a chain.  If he is visiting another borough his office will seek permission for him to wear the Kingston chains in that other borough.  If he is not wearing a chain, he will wear a ribbon.  The spirit of this is not to upstage the Mayor of another borough in his or her own borough.  He will wear the chain at Full council, but in other committees he will not wear the chain and another councillor may actually chair that meeting.

The Deputy Mayor will usually wear chains when acting for the Mayor in Kingston and will wear the chains at Full Council (this is wear all 50 councillors of the borough meet to discuss business).  Apart from full council and when wearing full regalia, the Deputy Mayor will wear the insignia on a ribbon when in the presence of the Mayor.

If the Deputy Mayor is entertaining Mayors from another borough in Kingston, then it would be usual for the visiting Mayors to wear ribbons not chains (so as not to upstage the resident Deputy Mayor acting for the Mayor). However if the Deputy Mayor is visiting a Mayor or a Deputy Mayor in another borough, he would wear chains.  Sometimes by mutual agreement at joint functions every one wears chains.

If the Mayor is wearing chains, the Mayores will wear her pendant as a broach or on a chain.  If the Mayor is wearing a ribbon, the Mayores will wear her pendant as a broach or on a ribbon.  The same rule applies with the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress.

What is the Mayors Parlor?

This is a room close to the main debating chambers of the council at the Guildhall.  This acts as the Mayors office and for entertaining dignitaries.  In the past this has ranged from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and more recently Kingstonian Football club, after they won the Umbro football trophy at Wembley stadium. Dignitaries will also include from time to time other residents who may attend the guildhall to be thanked for service to the community.

Details of the Outgoing Mayor's charity - The Year 2000-2001 was split equally between

• Kingston Hospital Born too Soon
• Kingston Refugee Action.

So far over £31,000 has been raised.  Thank you.

Click here for details of the New Mayor's charity for the Year 2001 - 2002