| Post: | Lord Mayor |
| Body: | Belfast |
| Insignia: | Coat of Arms of Belfast.png |
| Insigniasize: | 200 |
| Insigniacaption: | Belfast City Coat of Arms |
| Incumbent: | Micky Murray |
| Incumbentsince: | 3 June 2024 |
| Style: | The Right Honourable[1] |
| Appointer: | Belfast City Council |
| Termlength: | One year |
| Inaugural: | Sir Daniel Dixon (Lord Mayor) George Dunbar (Mayor) John Vesey (Sovereign) |
| Formation: | 1892 (as Lord Mayor of Belfast) 1842 (as Mayor of Belfast) 1613 (as Sovereign of Belfast) |
| Deputy: | Andrew McCormick |
| Website: | Lord Mayor |
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the city's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The current Lord Mayor is Micky Murray of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland who has been in the position of Lord Mayor since 3 June 2024. The Deputy Lord Mayor is Andrew McCormick of the Democratic Unionist Party.
The position that is now the Lord Mayor originated in 1613 in the town's Royal Charter as the Sovereign of Belfast. In 1842, this position was restyled the Mayor of Belfast. In 1892, four years after Belfast was granted city status, the position was given Lord Mayor status, making it one of only three cities on the island of Ireland having a Lord Mayor, the other two being Cork and Dublin. In 1929, it became one of only six cities in the United Kingdom to have a Lord Mayor styled "the Right Honourable". Until 1973 the position was held for three years, when it was reduced to its current term of one year. From 1921 until 1972, the Lord Mayor was automatically entitled to a seat in the Senate of Northern Ireland.
For most of the city's modern history, the position has been held by Unionists, with members of the Ulster Unionist Party holding the post for a total of 61 of the 67 years between 1921 and 1997. The first non-Unionist Lord Mayor since the partition of Ireland in 1921 was David Cook from the Alliance Party who was elected in 1978. The first nationalist Lord Mayor was not appointed until the election of Alban Maginness from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in 1997, while a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor was first elected in 2002. The loss of the Unionist majority on the Council in 1997 has resulted in a greater rotation of the position amongst the parties, which, like other elected positions within the Council such as Committee chairs, is now filled using the D'Hondt system.
The Lord's Mayor's role comprises these powers and duties:[2]
The position of Deputy Lord Mayor has a representative role within the city along with the Lord Mayor. When the Lord Mayor is unavailable for whatever reason, it is the responsibility of the Deputy Lord Mayor to carry out the representative functions of the Lord Mayor.
While the Deputy Lord Mayor is in office, they combine their mayoral responsibilities with their responsibilities as a councillor, such as serving on Council Committees.
The following is a list of sovereigns of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1613 until it was replaced by the position of Mayor in 1842.[3]
The following is a list of mayors of Belfast from the creation of the position in 1842 until it was replaced by the position of Lord Mayor in 1892.[5]
Source: Belfast City Council
The following is a list of lord mayors of Belfast since the creation of the position in 1892.[6]
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1892 | 1893 | Daniel Dixon | ||
| 2 | 1894 | 1896 | William McCammond | ||
| 3 | 1896 | 1898 | William James Pirrie | ||
| 4 | 1898 | 1899 | James Henderson | ||
| 5 | 1899 | 1900 | Otto Jaffe |
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1900 | 1901 | Sir Robert J. McConnell | ||
| 7 | 1901 | 1904 | Sir Daniel Dixon | ||
| 8 | 1904 | 1905 | Sir Otto Jaffe | ||
| 9 | 1905 | 1907 | Sir Daniel Dixon | ||
| 10 | 1907 | 1908 | The 9th Earl of Shaftesbury | ||
| 11 | 1908 | 1910 | Sir Robert Anderson | ||
| 12 | 1910 | 1914 | Robert James McMordie | ||
| 13 | 1914 | 1917 | Sir Crawford McCullagh | ||
| 14 | 1917 | 1919 | James Johnston | ||
| 15 | 1919 | 1920 | John Campbell White | ||
| 16 | 1920 | 1923 | William F. Coates | ||
| 17 | 1923 | 1929 | William George Turner | ||
| 18 | 1929 | 1931 | Sir William F. Coates | ||
| 19 | 1931 | 1942 | Sir Crawford McCullagh | ||
| 20 | 1942 | 1942 | George Ruddell Black | ||
| 21 | 1943 | 1946 | Sir Crawford McCullagh | ||
| 22 | 1946 | 1949 | Sir William F. Neill | ||
| 23 | 1949 | 1951 | William E. G. Johnston | ||
| 24 | 1951 | 1953 | James Henry Norritt | ||
| 25 | 1953 | 1955 | Sir Percival Brown | ||
| 26 | 1955 | 1957 | Sir Robert Harcourt | ||
| 27 | 1957 | 1959 | Cecil McKee | ||
| 28 | 1959 | 1961 | Robin Kinahan | ||
| 29 | 1961 | 1963 | Martin Kelso Wallace | ||
| 30 | 1963 | 1966 | William Jenkins | ||
| 31 | 1966 | 1969 | William Duncan Geddis | ||
| 32 | 1969 | 1972 | Joseph Foster Cairns | ||
| 33 | 1972 | 1975 | Sir William Christie | ||
| 34 | 1975 | 1977 | Sir Myles Humphreys | ||
| 35 | 1977 | 1978 | James Stewart | ||
| 36 | 1978 | 1979 | David Cook | ||
| 37 | 1979 | 1980 | Billy Bell | ||
| 38 | 1980 | 1981 | John Carson | ||
| 39 | 1981 | 1982 | Grace Bannister | ||
| 40 | 1982 | 1983 | Thomas Patton | ||
| 41 | 1983 | 1985 | Alfie Ferguson | ||
| 42 | 1985 | 1986 | John Carson | ||
| 43 | 1986 | 1987 | Sammy Wilson | ||
| 44 | 1987 | 1988 | J.J. Dixon Gilmore | ||
| 45 | 1988 | 1989 | Nigel Dodds | ||
| 46 | 1989 | 1990 | Reg Empey | ||
| 47 | 1990 | 1991 | Fred Cobain | ||
| 48 | 1991 | 1992 | Nigel Dodds | ||
| 49 | 1992 | 1993 | Herbert Ditty | ||
| 50 | 1993 | 1994 | Reg Empey | ||
| 51 | 1994 | 1995 | Hugh Smyth | ||
| 52 | 1995 | 1996 | Eric Smyth | ||
| 53 | 1996 | 1997 | Ian Adamson | ||
| 54 | 1997 | 1998 | Alban Maginness | ||
| 55 | 1998 | 1999 | |||
| 56 | 1999 | 2000 | Bob Stoker |
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 2000 | 2001 | Sammy Wilson | ||
| 58 | 2001 | 2002 | Jim Rodgers | ||
| 59 | 2002 | 2003 | Alex Maskey | ||
| 60 | 2003 | 2004 | Martin Morgan | ||
| 61 | 2004 | 2005 | Tom Ekin | ||
| 62 | 2005 | 2006 | Wallace Browne | ||
| 63 | 2006 | 2007 | Patrick McCarthy | ||
| 64 | 2007 | 2008 | Jim Rodgers | ||
| 65 | 2008 | 2009 | Tom Hartley | ||
| 66 | 2009 | 2010 | Naomi Long | ||
| 67 | 2010 | 2011 | Pat Convery | ||
| 68 | 2011 | 2012 | Niall Ó Donnghaile | ||
| 69 | 2012 | 2013 | Gavin Robinson | ||
| 70 | 2013 | 2014 | Máirtín Ó Muilleoir | ||
| 71 | 2014 | 2015 | Nichola Mallon | ||
| 72 | 2015 | 2016 | Arder Carson | ||
| 73 | 2016 | 2017 | Brian Kingston | ||
| 74 | 2017 | 2018 | Nuala McAllister | ||
| 75 | 2018 | 2019 | Deirdre Hargey | ||
| 76 | 2019 | 2019 | John Finucane | ||
| 77 | 2019 | 2020 | Daniel Baker | ||
| 78 | 2020 | 2021 | Frank McCoubrey | ||
| 79 | 2021 | 2022 | Kate Nicholl | ||
| 80 | 2022 | 2022 | Michael Long | ||
| 81 | 2022 | 2023 | Tina Black | ||
| 82 | 2023 | 2024 | Ryan Murphy | ||
| 83 | 2024 | Micky Murray | |||
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1975 | 1977 | Grace Bannister | ||
| 1977 | 1979 | Post vacant | |||
| 2 | 1978 | 1979 | Dorothy Dunlop | ||
| 1979 | 1980 | Post vacant | |||
| 1980 | 1981 | Post vacant | |||
| 3 | 1981 | 1982 | Frank Millar | ||
| 4 | 1982 | 1983 | Frederick Edward (Ted) Ashby | ||
| 5 | 1983 | 1984 | Hugh Smyth | ||
| 6 | 1984 | 1985 | Billy Blair | ||
| 7 | 1985 | 1986 | Billy Dickson | ||
| 8 | 1986 | 1987 | Dixie Gilmore | ||
| 1987 | 1988 | Post vacant | |||
| 9 | 1988 | 1989 | Reg Empey | ||
| 1989 | 1990 | Post vacant | |||
| 10 | 1990 | 1991 | Eric Smyth | ||
| 12 | 1991 | 1992 | Herbert Ditty | ||
| 13 | 1992 | 1993 | Frank Millar | ||
| 14 | 1993 | 1994 | Hugh Smyth | ||
| 15 | 1994 | 1995 | Ian Adamson | ||
| 16 | 1995 | 1996 | Alasdair McDonnell | ||
| 17 | 1996 | 1997 | Margaret Crooks | ||
| 18 | 1997 | 1998 | Jim Rodgers | ||
| 19 | 1998 | 1999 | Bob Stoker | ||
| 20 | 1999 | 2000 | Marie Moore | ||
| No. | From | To | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 2000 | 2001 | Frank McCoubrey | ||
| 22 | 2001 | 2002 | Hugh Smyth | ||
| 2002 | 2003 | Post vacant | |||
| 23 | 2003 | 2004 | Margaret Crooks | ||
| 24 | 2004 | 2005 | Joe O'Donnell | ||
| 25 | 2005 | 2006 | Pat Convery | ||
| 26 | 2006 | 2007 | Ruth Patterson | ||
| 27 | 2007 | 2008 | Bernie Kelly | ||
| 28 | 2008 | 2009 | David Browne | ||
| 29 | 2009 | 2010 | Danny Lavery | ||
| 30 | 2010 | 2011 | William Humphrey | ||
| 31 | 2011 | 2012 | Ruth Patterson | ||
| 32 | 2012 | 2013 | Tierna Cunningham | ||
| 33 | 2013 | 2014 | Christopher Stalford | ||
| 34 | 2014 | 2015 | Máire Hendron | ||
| 35 | 2015 | 2016 | Guy Spence | ||
| 36 | 2016 | 2017 | Mary Ellen Campbell | ||
| 37 | 2017 | 2018 | Sonia Copeland | ||
| 38 | 2018 | 2019 | Emmet McDonough-Brown | ||
| 39 | 2019 | 2020 | Peter McReynolds | ||
| 40 | 2020 | 2021 | Paul McCusker | ||
| 41 | 2021 | 2022 | Tom Haire | ||
| 42 | 2022 | 2023 | Michelle Kelly | ||
| 43 | 2023 | 2024 | Áine Groogan | ||
| 44 | 2024 | Andrew McCormick | |||