The Remembrancer is one of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's f ...

’s Chief Officers; the role dates back to 1571. His traditional role is as the channel of communications between the

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

and the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

on the one hand and the

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

, Royal Household and

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on the other. The Remembrancer is also the city's Ceremonial Officer and Chief of Protocol. Since 2023, the Remembrancer has been Paul Wright.

Origins

On 6 February 1571 the Corporation of the City of London created the office of Remembrancer, appointing Thomas Norton to the position. The record of the decision reads: The title 'remembrancer' was used for the office as it was responsible for keeping in remembrance the important affairs of the corporation – to act as the corporation's memory.

Remembrancer's role and department

The Remembrancer's department at the City of London is broken into three distinct branches of work: parliamentary, ceremonial and private events. The parliamentary office is responsible for looking after the City of London's interests in Parliament with regard to all public legislation, and the ceremonial office's objectives are to enable the Lord Mayor and City of London to welcome high-profile visitors both domestically and internationally. Functions staged range from small receptions to major state dinners. Finally, the private events team co-ordinate the hiring of

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...

for private banquets, receptions or conferences. The Remembrancer's department had a budget of £6 million in 2011, and employed six lawyers to scrutinise prospective legislation and give evidence to select committees.

Relationship with Parliament

The Remembrancer is a parliamentary agent and so can observe

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

proceedings from the under-gallery next to the entrance to the chamber reserved for visitors, near the chair of the Sergeant at Arms (the opposite end of the chamber from the Speaker's chair) and has no access beyond the bar of the house, which marks the area of the chamber where only MPs are allowed and visitors may not enter during sessions. The House of Commons Commission have stated that the Remembrancer does not have any access to the floor of the House of Commons. Access to the under-gallery does not give any ability to participate in or influence the proceedings, and the Remembrancer has no access to sit in this area by right, but rather by permission of the Speaker extended to parliamentary agents. The Corporation in general, and the Remembrancer in particular, have no power to overrule Parliament, which has the right to make legislation affecting the City. For example, the Corporation needed to request a local act of Parliament, the City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002 (c. vi), to modernise its system of local elections; the act notes, "The objects of this Act cannot be attained without the authority of Parliament". The Remembrancer does not have any entitlement to see parliamentary bills or other papers before they are publicly available, or to amend laws. The Remembrancer's responsibilities include monitoring legislation introduced into Parliament, and reporting to the Corporation anything that is likely to influence the City of London's interests. The Remembrancer also offers briefings to MPs and submits evidence when select committees are investigating matters of interest to the corporation, but does not have any special rights or privileges in this regard, having the same access as that of any other individual or body. The Remembrancer does not have any privileged access to view legislation during the drafting process, and is not even notified of public bills that impact the City, but is notified of the introduction of private bills that impact the City. Despite statements to the contrary by the parliamentary and City authorities, beliefs persist that the Remembrancer has special access to or authority over the Commons, for example that they sit behind or near the Speaker, that the Remembrancer can access the floor of the Commons, that the Remembrancer can intervene in proceedings, or that the Remembrancer has special privileges to view draft legislation. For example, in an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2011 about the unreformed nature of the City of London Corporation,

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...

wrote: In a further example, in 2013

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...

wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, asking him to consider removing the Remembrancer from the floor of the House of Commons, and to end privileges she claimed the Remembrancer had to view legislation during the drafting process.

List of city remembrancers

Footnotes

References