THE GLOVER December 2011 - The Worshipful Company of Glovers

“GLOVER AND CITIZEN” – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Do you remember the oath you took
as a Freeman of the City of London? It
is a bit of a tongue–twister but includes
the promise that “I will be obedient to
the Mayor of this City: That I will
maintain the franchises and customs
thereof….” And have you ever
wondered how and why exactly the
Glovers connect with the Lord Mayor
and the Corporation of London?
Unfortunately there is a bit of “horrible”
history to navigate on the way.
If you are already an avid reader of the
Glovers’ History or a constitutional and
historical expert then you can skip this
paragraph since you will know already
that the City of London was from the
late twelfth century governed by a
Mayor with Aldermen assisted by
various other Ward and Parish
Constables and minor officers who
ensured a regulated way of life and
business. The Mayor and Aldermen
regulated the Livery Companies who
were then all granted a Royal Charter to
exist but were all required to be
accountable to the regulations of the
Mayor of London. The pre-eminence
of the “Lord” Mayor and the Aldermen
and Common Councilmen still exists
today with the Corporation of London
being a full local authority. Of course
now the Corporation is itself highly
regulated and controlled by
Government but many of the City’s
other important rights and customs date
back and pre-exist subsequent laws. For
example the City Remembrancer has
special power to attend Parliament and
acquaint the Lord Mayor with its daily
business so as to ensure that the rights
and safeguards of the City of London
are maintained and enhanced. In almost
every aspect the Corporation of London
is the same but entirely different.
Historians should re-join here. The
“constituency” of the Lord Mayor is the
25,000 or so Liverymen and women
who are not necessarily residents nor
business occupiers in the City and
indeed will come from all over the UK as
well as abroad. The Lord Mayor’s
election is via Common Hall and
“sponsored” by the Livery - albeit that
the final vote is by the Court of
Sixteen
Aldermen alone. However, the Lord
Mayor is also the head of the
Corporation of London - a body that is
itself elected by residents and registered
business voters in the City who are
themselves not necessarily members of
any Livery. Thus it becomes clear (or
even more muddled) as to how the
bodies interlink and cross over and how
the Livery are closely involved with the
Corporation but distinct from some of its
important local authority remit. It may
be controversial to suggest (but it is a
legal possibility) that the Corporation of
London could survive without a Lord
Mayor. It might then look a bit more like
- or be subsumed within – the London
Boroughs of Tower Hamlets or Islington.
But whilst there is a Lord Mayor, the
Government of the day have seen the
importance of using the unique and
significant importance of the role that
the Lord Mayor can perform in a nonparty
political way on behalf of the UK.
The physical proximity of the Lord
Mayor within the heart of the financial
city and the connection with the
Corporation of London of which he or
she is an elected member means that the
Lord Mayor can engage with the
business leaders and work with them
and for them as the UK’s ambassador
for financial services. This has been built
up over recent decades to become a preeminent
part of the Lord Mayor's role. It
works well because of the interaction
between the business voters who are the
electors and stakeholders within the
Corporation and also the businesses
who want to have their issues aired on a
national and international front and
want the Lord Mayor to act as their
spokesperson on such a platform. In
many cases Livery Companies are
engaged with this part of the Lord
Mayor's work. The Financial Services
Group of Livery Companies frequently
brief the Lord Mayor on financial
matters. The Lord Mayor has thus been
able to enhance the reputation of UK
financial services and the City of
London as a place of excellence to work
and do business. The Lord Mayor
promotes both the value of the City as a
cluster of like businesses, a well
regulated and fairly taxed environment,
a place with qualified and available
staff and an enjoyable environment in
which people will enjoy doing business
and living.
It must be remembered that although
UK financial services and, especially, the
banks have come under much critical
scrutiny over the last few years, the
financial services sector provides jobs for
over 1 million people within the UK
economy (approximately 350,000 of
them in the City of London) and
contributes 12% of the UK’s GDP. The
Corporation of London’s role as a local
authority is also vital since it is that body
which ensures the physical environment
is well presented, that transport runs on
time (at various times the Corporation
has funded alternative bus or river taxi
facilities whilst underground lines were
out of order), it has campaigned for
Crossrail and is making a substantial
contribution to its cost. The Corporation
ensures that services such as waste
collection, road cleansing and
maintenance are exemplary and
facilitate the planning of appropriate
buildings which facilitate both large
and small businesses in operating
successfully within the City environs.
The Livery Companies have a lot to
contribute and in many different ways -
as voters and stakeholders with the City
Corporation as its local authority, as part
of the constituency of the Lord Mayor in
the Shrieval and Mayoral elections, as
business people ready to engage in the
promotion and future of the City of
London. These are all ways in which
the Glovers can deliver on that
Freeman’s promise!
Alison Gowman, First Under Warden
TOUR OF MUSEUM,
LONDON DOCKLANDS
Monday 22 August
Following a very enjoyable visit to
the Museum of London in January this
year we were presented with the
opportunity to visit their sister Museum –
The Museum of London, Docklands. On
a bright sunny day 40 members and
THE GLOVER December 2011