The City has picked Michael Mainelli, an economist and former accountant, to become lord mayor of London in 2023 following a secret ballot held by a group of grandees of the Square Mile.
The City of London Corporation’s Court of Aldermen has voted to elect Mainelli to the post, according to people familiar with the situation, which comes with a long list of ceremonial duties in welcoming overseas visitors to the UK and promoting the City around the world.
The lord mayor lives in the Mansion House, close to the Bank of England, for the year, where lavish dinners are held for the grandees of various City-based industries. The candidate normally is normally rewarded with a knighthood after taking the unpaid role.
The decision means that the other candidate for the role, Alison Gowman, a consultant at law firm DLA Piper, will miss out on becoming only the third woman to hold the post in more than 800 years.
The City of London Corporation, which is the local government of the Square Mile, has been accused of being an old boys’ club by critics of the often opaque processes that sit behind much of its decision making. Only four women sit on the 25-strong Court of Aldermen, which elects the lord mayor.
Mainelli is the co-founder of Z/Yen, a City of London think-tank that aims to promote societal advance through better finance and technology, and has previously worked at accountants BDO and as a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Evaluation & Research Agency.
He was elected one of the two sheriffs of the City of London in 2019, widely seen as a stepping stone to becoming lord mayor.
A letter seen by the Financial Times to the City’s livery companies, the trade associations and guilds, said that the Court of Aldermen has agreed that Mainelli “shall be supported for the Mayoralty in 2023/2024”.
He will follow Nicholas Lyons, chair of the insurer Phoenix, who is set to take over the role later this year.
Lyons was picked with some controversy after members of the City of London Corporation raised concerns over the eligibility of his Irish nationality, while also pointing out that his appointment meant that the City had missed out on picking his rival as the first openly gay Lord Mayor.
Lyons will be the City’s 693rd lord mayor, following the incumbent, DLA Piper finance partner Vincent Keaveny. Mainelli’s election is still subject to the formality of the election at the City’s Common Hall in 2023. Mainelli was not available for comment.
The appointment process was overseen by an external panel chaired by BAE Systems boss Sir Roger Carr.
The letter to the livery companies concluded: “As in previous years, the court hopes that this process of deciding which candidates it will support for progression to higher office in the years ahead continues to be of benefit to the Livery.”
The City of London Corporation said: “As usual the lord mayor will be elected at Common Hall in an open and transparent way. As every year, we publish a letter sharing the name of the individual supported by the Court of Aldermen for election as lord mayor on our website.”
