<em>Councillor Robert Rigby was elected the new Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Westminster following a vote at Full Council on May 15<sup>th</sup>. </em>
<em>A practicing Catholic and former Catholic Union chairman, the new Lord Mayor is 63, and his wife Emiko will be the first ever Japanese Lady Mayoress. Cllr Rigby, who studied at Ampleforth College, has lived in St John’s Wood for more than 35 years and spent his working life in sales and marketing within the travel industry, including 20 years with Japan Airlines (during which time he met his wife Emiko). </em>
<em>The Lord Mayor’s chaplain will be Father Christopher Colven, past Rector of St James’s Church, Spanish Place, in Marylebone. Fr Colven is currently the Catholic Chaplain to the Houses of Parliament</em>.
<em>The Lord Mayor chose to speak to the Catholic Herald about his appointment and what he plans to do in the role.</em>
<strong>For the uninitiated, what does a Lord Mayor of Westminster actually do?</strong>
In a typical year the Lord Mayor of Westminster attends around 500 engagements across the eight square miles of the City aiming to reach the whole of the community, and hosts up to 40 events. The role is about honouring the people of Westminster and acknowledging and applauding their hard work. It is about celebrating local success and recognising achievements. The Lord Mayor has the opportunity to thank people and organisations, on behalf of the city.
Along with openings, unveilings, tree plantings, receptions and award ceremonies, the Lord Mayor engages with schools, care homes, businesses, faith groups, youth organisations, sports and community groups across the City.
Ceremonial and big ticket events include: banquets and receptions at Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree and the annual visit to Oslo to fell the tree, services at Westminster Abbey and Remembrance events across Westminster
<strong>2) How did his education at Ampleforth and his time as chair of the Catholic Union of Great Britain influenced him and his path toward becoming Lord Mayor?</strong>
The Lord Mayor’s education at Ampleforth instilled within him the need to put others first and recognise the two pillars/themes of the rule of St Benedict’s teaching, namely to “listen” and “humility” which has and continues to serve the new Lord Mayor well as a public servant (he has been a councillor in Westminster since 2010). Ampleforth was a family affair with the Lord Mayor’s two brothers, late father and uncle going there. A cousin also attended and later became a Benedictine monk.
Catholic values and social teaching are important to the Lord Mayor, and those are elements he saw clearly when chair of the Catholic Union.
<strong>3) You mentioned that Cllr Robert Rigby has some punchy ideas about what he wants to do with the Mayoralty – including inspiring teens to get fit - what are these ideas? </strong>
Promoting and inspiring activity, and getting our young people, especially those at primary school level, engaged in sport. Sport and exercise should be fun and a pathway to becoming more active whether it be via running (the Daily Mile), walking, or cycling. The issues around mental health of teenagers and children are prevalent – this became apparent during and after lockdown – and so the well-being of mind and body, using exercise habits early on will help to pay dividends in later life.
The Lord Mayor will be visiting schools to join in with exercise time and encourage children to develop good fitness habits early in life.
One of the Lord Mayor’s two charities for the forthcoming year will be the Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation, which does an amazing job introducing children and teens to the game. Cricket is for everyone, and the MCC Foundation works in communities where young people might not perhaps have thought of trying it.
A keen runner, the Lord Mayor will be running two half marathons while in office and plans to get as many youngsters involved as possible in the Westminster Mile event in September
<strong>4) What does he plan to do regarding the Cardinal Hume centre in Westminster, which comes under his remit?</strong>
The new Lord Mayor values putting faith in action, so that is why one of his charities selected in his year of office is the Cardinal Hume Centre. He hopes that by having it as one of his charities he can help not only raise much needed funds but also raise its profile so that more people know about the amazing work it does in offering hostel accommodation, helping young people who end up homeless, as well as advice and counselling. As a keen runner he aims to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October to raise funds.
<strong>5) How does his Catholic faith impact his life and how does he see it affecting his time as Lord Mayor?</strong>
As a practicing Catholic, Catholicism plays a big part in the new Lord Mayor’s life, and he tries every day to lead a life which reflects those values. He sees it as a strength and feels it will be invaluable in his year of office where he will be attending over 500 engagements and meeting thousands of people from many and different backgrounds.
<em>(Photograph of the New Lord Mayor of Westminster on the day of his election)</em>
