Who is the Lord Mayor?
The current Lord Mayor is Councillor Henry Gallagher. He represents the Dene and South Gosforth ward on the City Council.
He is supported by the Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Alistair Chisholm.
What does the Lord Mayor do?
The Lord Mayor has a diplomatic role. They give official welcomes to visitors to the city by hosting civic events.
They also attend local events, including those that support charities and good causes in the city.
The Lord Mayor is also responsible for:
- chairing City Council meetings
- granting honorary and heredity freedom of the city status
- recognising people's contributions to life in the city through the Lord Mayor's Award Scheme
Awards
The city has a number of award schemes including:
Contact the Lord Mayor
To contact the Lord Mayor, you can:
- email lord.mayor@newcastle.gov.uk
- or write to: The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle City Council, Civic Centre, NE1 8QH
Letters to the Lord Mayor should begin: Dear Lord Mayor
Letters to the Sheriff should begin: Dear Sheriff
Lord Mayor’s biography
I was born in the Dwellings in Walker and brought up in Walker and Wallsend.
An odd fact about me is that I have never lived more than three miles away from the house in which I was physically born!
My dad worked at Swan Hunter shipyards and my mam was a barmaid. Neither was afraid of hard work and set a great example to me and my sister and brother. By the end of their working lives my dad was a college lecturer and my mam had managed a number of pubs, such as, the Wincomblee in Walker and Lord Clyde in Byker.
After leaving school I had a few temporary and government scheme jobs before ending up working at the Ministry complex at Longbenton.
I worked on large scale industrial laser printers and enveloping machines. Eventually I ended up as a mainframe operator.
Upon leaving work I threw myself into politics taking on greater responsibilities such as Planning and Licensing Committees. As well as, of course, being able to spend more time around my council ward of Dene & South Gosforth with my colleagues Councillors Wendy Taylor and Stephen Psallidas.
As a long time season ticket holder in the Leazes end at Newcastle United I have had family and friends “volunteer“ to use my ticket when Lord Mayor duties clash!
With my wife Deborah as my Lady Mayoress and our daughter Kate helping out from time to time, I’m really looking forward to my (usual!) second year as Lord Mayor.