The Derby City Council annual Mayor Making ceremony and AGM will be held in person again this year on Wednesday 26th May 2021, after the COVID pandemic forced last years event to be held virtually for the first time in its history.
Due to social distancing requirements, the event will take place at the Derby County Pride Park stadium rather than the Council Chamber but will also be streamed live on the Derby Live vimeo channel or watch below. Councillors and guests are also being advised to wear masks and take a lateral flow test before attending.
The Mayor Making ceremony will see current Mayor, Frank Harwood handing over to the new Mayor from 11.00am, then following a break, the Annual General Meeting of the Council will take place from 3.00pm which will decide the formation of the political leadership of the council following the Local Elections on Thursday 6th May.
Currently the Conservatives have 21 seats, Labour 13, Lib Dems have eight, Reform Derby six and there are three independent councillors. Parties need 26 seats to form a majority and so councillors will need to agree on the formation of a cabinet and who will chair the various committees over the next 12 months.
Emily Feenan, Director of Legal, Procurement and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer, said:
I’d like to thank the current Mayor Frank Harwood for all his hard work over what has been a tremendously challenging term of office.
This is a really key date in the Civic Calendar, whilst the Mayoral role is ceremonial, it is an important and historic position and it’s important we continue the tradition of Mayor Making. It is also a very important day for the Council as it will set the political leadership for the next 12 months and help set the agenda for the city’s recovery from the pandemic.
After a year of meeting remotely, I’m grateful to the Democratic Services team for their work to ensure we have a suitable and safe venue to allow proceedings to take place and to Derby County Football Club for working so closely with us. I’d also like to thank all those special guests who have agreed to attend.
Photo of Pride Park taken by Ed6767. Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
