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The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the city's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
| Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
|---|---|
| |
| Style | The Right Honourable[1] |
| Appointer | Belfast City Council |
| Term length | One year |
| Inaugural holder | Sir Daniel Dixon (Lord Mayor) George Dunbar (Mayor) John Vesey (Sovereign) |
| Formation | 1892 (as Lord Mayor of Belfast) 1842 (as Mayor of Belfast) 1613 (as Sovereign of Belfast) |
| Deputy | Andrew McCormick |
| Website | Lord Mayor |
The current Lord Mayor is Micky Murray of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland who has been in the position of Lord Mayor since 3 June 2024. The Deputy Lord Mayor is Andrew McCormick of the Democratic Unionist Party.
The position that is now the Lord Mayor originated in 1613 in the town's Royal Charter as the Sovereign of Belfast. In 1842, this position was restyled the Mayor of Belfast. In 1892, four years after Belfast was granted city status, the position was given Lord Mayor status, making it one of only three cities on the island of Ireland having a Lord Mayor, the other two being Cork and Dublin. In 1929, it became one of only six cities in the United Kingdom to have a Lord Mayor styled "the Right Honourable". Until 1973 the position was held for three years, when it was reduced to its current term of one year. From 1921 until 1972, the Lord Mayor was automatically entitled to a seat in the Senate of Northern Ireland.
For most of the city's modern history, the position has been held by Unionists, with members of the Ulster Unionist Party holding the post for a total of 61 of the 67 years between 1921 and 1997. The first non-Unionist Lord Mayor since the partition of Ireland in 1921 was David Cook from the Alliance Party who was elected in 1978. The first nationalist Lord Mayor was not appointed until the election of Alban Maginness from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in 1997, while a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor was first elected in 2002. The loss of the Unionist majority on the Council in 1997 has resulted in a greater rotation of the position amongst the parties, which, like other elected positions within the Council such as Committee chairs, is now filled using the D'Hondt system.
The Lord's Mayor's role comprises these powers and duties:[2]
The position of Deputy Lord Mayor has a representative role within the city along with the Lord Mayor. When the Lord Mayor is unavailable for whatever reason, it is the responsibility of the Deputy Lord Mayor to carry out the representative functions of the Lord Mayor.
While the Deputy Lord Mayor is in office, they combine their mayoral responsibilities with their responsibilities as a councillor, such as serving on Council Committees.
The following is a list of sovereigns of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1613 until it was replaced by the position of Mayor in 1842.[3]
The following is a list of mayors of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1842 until it was replaced by the position of Lord Mayor in 1892.[5]
Source: Belfast City Council
The following is a list of lord mayors of Belfast since the creation of the position in 1892.[6]
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1892 | 1893 | Daniel Dixon | Irish Unionist | |
| 2 | 1894 | 1896 | William McCammond | Irish Unionist | |
| 3 | 1896 | 1898 | William James Pirrie | Liberal | |
| 4 | 1898 | 1899 | James Henderson | Irish Unionist | |
| 5 | 1899 | 1900 | Otto Jaffe | Irish Unionist |
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 2000 | 2001 | Sammy Wilson | DUP | |
| 58 | 2001 | 2002 | Jim Rodgers | UUP | |
| 59 | 2002 | 2003 | Alex Maskey | Sinn Féin | |
| 60 | 2003 | 2004 | Martin Morgan | SDLP | |
| 61 | 2004 | 2005 | Tom Ekin | Alliance | |
| 62 | 2005 | 2006 | Wallace Browne | DUP | |
| 63 | 2006 | 2007 | Patrick McCarthy | SDLP | |
| 64 | 2007 | 2008 | Jim Rodgers | UUP | |
| 65 | 2008 | 2009 | Tom Hartley | Sinn Féin | |
| 66 | 2009 | 2010 | Naomi Long | Alliance | |
| 67 | 2010 | 2011 | Pat Convery | SDLP | |
| 68 | 2011 | 2012 | Niall Ó Donnghaile | Sinn Féin | |
| 69 | 2012 | 2013 | Gavin Robinson | DUP | |
| 70 | 2013 | 2014 | Máirtín Ó Muilleoir | Sinn Féin | |
| 71 | 2014 | 2015 | Nichola Mallon | SDLP | |
| 72 | 2015 | 2016 | Arder Carson | Sinn Féin | |
| 73 | 2016 | 2017 | Brian Kingston | DUP | |
| 74 | 2017 | 2018 | Nuala McAllister | Alliance | |
| 75 | 2018 | 2019 | Deirdre Hargey | Sinn Féin | |
| 76 | 2019 | 2019 | John Finucane | Sinn Féin | |
| 77 | 2019 | 2020 | Daniel Baker | Sinn Féin | |
| 78 | 2020 | 2021 | Frank McCoubrey | DUP | |
| 79 | 2021 | 2022 | Kate Nicholl | Alliance | |
| 80 | 2022 | 2022 | Michael Long | Alliance | |
| 81 | 2022 | 2023 | Tina Black | Sinn Féin | |
| 82 | 2023 | 2024 | Ryan Murphy | Sinn Féin | |
| 83 | 2024 | Micky Murray | Alliance | ||
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1975 | 1977 | Grace Bannister | UUP | |
| 1977 | 1979 | Post vacant | |||
| 2 | 1978 | 1979 | Dorothy Dunlop | UUP | |
| 1979 | 1980 | Post vacant | |||
| 1980 | 1981 | Post vacant | |||
| 3 | 1981 | 1982 | Frank Millar | Ind. Unionist | |
| 4 | 1982 | 1983 | Frederick Edward (Ted) Ashby | DUP | |
| 5 | 1983 | 1984 | Hugh Smyth | PUP | |
| 6 | 1984 | 1985 | Billy Blair | UUP | |
| 7 | 1985 | 1986 | Billy Dickson | DUP | |
| 8 | 1986 | 1987 | Dixie Gilmore | UUP | |
| 1987 | 1988 | Post vacant | |||
| 9 | 1988 | 1989 | Reg Empey | UUP | |
| 1989 | 1990 | Post vacant | |||
| 10 | 1990 | 1991 | Eric Smyth | DUP | |
| 12 | 1991 | 1992 | Herbert Ditty | UUP | |
| 13 | 1992 | 1993 | Frank Millar | Ind. Unionist | |
| 14 | 1993 | 1994 | Hugh Smyth | PUP | |
| 15 | 1994 | 1995 | Ian Adamson | UUP | |
| 16 | 1995 | 1996 | Alasdair McDonnell | SDLP | |
| 17 | 1996 | 1997 | Margaret Crooks | UUP | |
| 18 | 1997 | 1998 | Jim Rodgers | UUP | |
| 19 | 1998 | 1999 | Bob Stoker | UUP | |
| 20 | 1999 | 2000 | Marie Moore | Sinn Féin | |
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 2000 | 2001 | Frank McCoubrey | Ulster Democratic | |
| 22 | 2001 | 2002 | Hugh Smyth | PUP | |
| 2002 | 2003 | Post vacant | |||
| 23 | 2003 | 2004 | Margaret Crooks | UUP | |
| 24 | 2004 | 2005 | Joe O'Donnell | Sinn Féin | |
| 25 | 2005 | 2006 | Pat Convery | SDLP | |
| 26 | 2006 | 2007 | Ruth Patterson | DUP | |
| 27 | 2007 | 2008 | Bernie Kelly | SDLP | |
| 28 | 2008 | 2009 | David Browne | UUP | |
| 29 | 2009 | 2010 | Danny Lavery | Sinn Féin | |
| 30 | 2010 | 2011 | William Humphrey | DUP | |
| 31 | 2011 | 2012 | Ruth Patterson | DUP | |
| 32 | 2012 | 2013 | Tierna Cunningham | Sinn Féin | |
| 33 | 2013 | 2014 | Christopher Stalford | DUP | |
| 34 | 2014 | 2015 | Máire Hendron | Alliance | |
| 35 | 2015 | 2016 | Guy Spence | DUP | |
| 36 | 2016 | 2017 | Mary Ellen Campbell | Sinn Féin | |
| 37 | 2017 | 2018 | Sonia Copeland | UUP | |
| 38 | 2018 | 2019 | Emmet McDonough-Brown | Alliance | |
| 39 | 2019 | 2020 | Peter McReynolds | Alliance | |
| 40 | 2020 | 2021 | Paul McCusker | SDLP | |
| 41 | 2021 | 2022 | Tom Haire | DUP | |
| 42 | 2022 | 2023 | Michelle Kelly | Alliance | |
| 43 | 2023 | 2024 | Áine Groogan | Green (NI) | |
| 44 | 2024 | Andrew McCormick | DUP | ||
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