InWales, the office ofMayor orLord Mayor (respectively inWelshMaer andArglwydd Faer) had long been ceremonial posts, with little or no duties attached to it. Traditionally mayors have been elected bytown,borough andcity councils. Since 2000, councils can decide to havedirectly elected mayors with extensive powers if such a proposal is approved in a local referendum.
The right to appoint aLord Mayor is less frequently bestowed thancity status.
Currently, only two cities inWales have Lord Mayors:Cardiff andSwansea.
See alsoborough status in England and Wales for a list of Welsh areas having a borough charter (and therefore a mayor). County boroughs are highlighted here in bold text. Many towns have lost their borough status (for example as a consequence of theLocal Government Act 1972) but continued the tradition of appointing or electing mayors to the ongoing Town Councils.
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The wife of a male Mayor is called the Mayoress and accompanies him to civic functions. A male or female Mayor may appoint a female consort, usually a fellow councillor, as Mayoress.[citation needed] The first female mayor in Wales,Gwenllian Morgan ofBrecon elected in 1910, appointed her sister, Nellie, as mayoress.[27] In May 2000 the mayor ofCwmamman, Howard Power, appointed his 15-year-old niece Marianne Coleman as mayoress, because his wife was too busy to fill the role.[11] In 2008 the new Mayor ofNarberth, Suzanne Radford-Smith, nominated her aunt to be Mayoress.[28]
The consort of a Lord Mayor is the Lady Mayoress.
