Councillor James Fry is set to be sworn in as the new Lord Mayor of Oxford at the traditional annual mayor making ceremony at 6pm, on Wednesday 18 May 2022, in the Assembly Room, Oxford Town Hall.
Guests and fellow councillors will watch the traditional ceremony in person, as the retiring Lord Mayor of Oxford since November 2020, Councillor Mark Lygo, officially steps down and hands over his chains of office to Councillor James Fry. Councillor Mark Lygo will be appointed Deputy Lord Mayor and Councillor Mike Rowley will be appointed Sheriff.
The councillors nominated to the three civic posts were announced at the Council meeting on 16 February 2022. The appointments will now go before the Annual Council meeting on Wednesday 18 May 2022 for approval.
Comment
“It is a great honour and privilege to have been chosen as Oxford's next Lord Mayor in the year when, by coincidence, my wife Susanna becomes Chair of the County Council.
“When she was Lord Mayor, I saw what a wonderful opportunity the role offers to get to know more about the city where we have lived since student days. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will provide an extra reason to celebrate the city, its people and its institutions during my term of office.”
Councillor James Fry
The new Lord Mayor
Councillor James Fry was educated at New College (MA Mathematics and B Phil Economics) and Nuffield College Oxford (D Phil Economics).
He taught economics at Magdalen College and founded LMC International an international consultancy in the economics of agriculture, working at its head office in Oxford.
James was elected to the City Council in May 2012 and has represented North ward/Walton Manor ward for 10 years. He chairs the Audit and Governance Committee and the Scrutiny Committee’s Finance and Performance Panel, which undertakes an annual review of the Cabinet’s budget proposals. He is married to Councillor Susanna Pressel.
The Lord Mayor’s charities for 2022-2023 are Aspire, Asylum Welcome, and Emmaus.
The Lord Mayor generally carries out more than 300 engagements each year. These cover a wide range, from Royal visits and leading the City's annual Remembrance Sunday service, to small community group meetings and charity events.
The first recorded Mayor of Oxford is Turchillus, who held the honour between 1122 and 1123, and mayors’ names stretch in an unbroken line until 1962, when the dignity of the Lord Mayor was granted to Oxford by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The bells of Carfax Tower will be rung by the Oxford Society of Change Ringers to commemorate the ceremony.
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