Mayors in Northern Ireland

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In Northern Ireland, towns with borough status can have a mayor. The chair and deputy chair of a borough council may be called mayor and deputy mayor. These rules come from the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. Some towns already had borough status before 1972 and kept it; others later asked for borough status.

The head of Belfast City Council is called the Lord Mayor of Belfast, a title used since 1892. A Lord Mayor is a rare honour, rarer than city status. A Lord Provost also acts as Lord Lieutenant of their city.

Today, Belfast and Armagh are the only cities with a Lord Mayor. Armagh’s Lord Mayor title was given by the Queen during the Diamond Jubilee.

The wife of a male mayor is called the mayoress and accompanies him to events. A female mayor, or an unmarried male mayor, may appoint a female mayoress.

Naomi Long, Belfast’s former Lord Mayor, chose to appoint her husband as Lord Mayor’s Consort—the first man to hold that role.