Lord mayor is a title of amayor of what is usually a major city in aCommonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign.^[1] However, qualified forms of mayoral titles are also present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor".Aldermen usually elect the lord mayor from their ranks.^[2]

InAustralia, lord mayor is a special status granted by themonarch to mayors of major cities, primarily the capitals of Australian states and territories. Australian cities with lord mayors areAdelaide,Brisbane,Darwin,Hobart,Melbourne,Newcastle,Parramatta,Perth,Sydney, andWollongong.

InCanada, the only town with a lord mayor in the traditional sense isNiagara-on-the-Lake, as recognition of its role as the first capital ofUpper Canada.^[3] Unusually, the council ofBrantford, Ontario took it upon itself to appoint an honorary Lord MayorWalter Gretzky in addition to the elected mayor.^[2] This is the only example of a council granting the cachet itself, rather than it being granted by a higher authority, such as the Crown or national government.

In England, Wales, andNorthern Ireland, it is a purely ceremonial post conferred byletters patent. Most famously it refers to theLord Mayor of London, who only has jurisdiction over theCity of London, as opposed to the modern title ofMayor of London governingGreater London.

InUganda, the only jurisdiction with alord mayor isKampala, in recognition of its status as the capital city of the country.

InIreland, the posts ofLord Mayor of Dublin (granted under theKingdom of Ireland) andLord Mayor of Cork (granted when this city was part of theUnited Kingdom) still exist, and are symbolic titles as in the UK. The Irish version of the title isArdmhéara, "high mayor."

Annapolis, the only city in theThirteen Colonies to receive a royal charter, used the title 'lord mayor' prior to theAmerican Revolution.^[4]

• InDenmark, the capitalCopenhagen has six specialised mayors dealing with specific subjects (such as schools or roads), lead by oneoverborgmester, a title commonly translated as "Lord Mayor".
• InGermany, it is sometimes (and perhaps anachronistically or incongruously) used to translate GermanOberbürgermeister, the title of the mayors of large, often county-free cities. Especially in large cities that consist of subunits governed byDistrict mayors (Bezirksbürgermeister), the titleOberbürgermeister is usually used to distinguish the head executive of the entire city from those of the subunits. As in Austria, Germany's mayors serve as the actual executive leaders of their cities and are elected officials. The post of mayor in the three Germancity-states is equivalent to that of aMinisterpräsident (head of government of one of Germany's constitutivestates) and the respective post is referred to asRegierender Bürgermeister ("governing mayor") in Berlin andErster Bürgermeister ("first mayor") inHamburg. In the third city-state,Bremen, which consists of the two citiesBremen andBremerhaven, each city has its own mayor; theBürgermeister und Präsident des Senates (Mayor and President of the Senate) is elected by theBürgerschaft of Bremen formed by elected representatives from both cities and serves as head of state government and mayor of Bremen.
• InPoland, the titlePrezydent miasta (President of the City) is used in a corresponding fashion to the GermanOberbürgermeister, as the title of the mayors of large, county-free cities. While this title has historically been translated as "Lord Mayor" in English,^[5][6] this usage is no longer common.
• InFinland, the head city manager of the capital,Helsinki, is customarily given by the country's President the titleylipormestari [loosely translated: "high mayor"] (which then generally is much more used of the official thankaupunginjohtaja, the title of the office itself), a tradition that resembles closely the lord mayoralties in other countries.
• InRomania andMoldova, the mayors of the capitals (Bucharest andChişinău, respectively) are named Primar General which means general mayor. The name is ceremonial and it has no higher powers than mayors of other cities.
• InHungary, themayor of the capitalBudapest is calledfőpolgármester which means chief mayor or grand mayor. Only the capital has afőpolgármester. Between 1873 and 1945, theLord Mayor of Budapest was representative of the Hungarian government at the capital's municipal authority.
• Inancient China,jīng zhào yĭn (京兆尹) was the title given to the mayor of capital city, jīng zhào (京兆). Today, on the other hand, city mayor and party-appointed secretary (actual leader) of the fourdirect-controlled municipalities,Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai, andChongqing, though without special titles, share the rank of provincial governor and party-appointed secretary.
• InEstonia, the mayor of the capital (Tallinn), was named Lord Mayor (Ülemlinnapea) from 1938 to 1940.
• In theCzech Republic, the mayor of the capital Prague and so-called statutory cities (listed in law, currently 25 cities) is calledPrimátor.
• InSweden, the titles of mayor and lord mayor have no direct equivalent since the 1970s. The executive leader of Swedish municipalities is one of sometimes severalKommunalråd in the function of the chair of the municipal board. In the capitalStockholm the chief executive is traditionally calledFinansborgarråd (City Councillor of Finance)—"council" in this context referring to the executive rather than the legislative branch of local government.
• TheWelsh translation of lord mayor isArglwydd Faer.
• TheIrish translation of lord mayor isArd-Mhéara, which means "chief mayor".
• TheMalay translation of lord mayor isDatuk bandar, which means "city chief".
• In theEthiopian Empire, theMayor of Addis Ababa was known as Lord Mayor (Kantiba).

The style of address for the office of the lord mayors of Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, the City of London, and York isThe Right Honourable. All other lord mayors areThe Right Worshipful. This refers only to the post, rather than the person.^[1] The titleSir can be used forsalutations when a lord mayor is being addressed.^[7][8]

• Lord provost, the similar post inScotland

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• Local government in the United Kingdom

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