The Lord Provost of Aberdeen is the convener of the Aberdeen City Council in Scotland.
They are elected by the city council and serve not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. They are equivalent in many ways to the institution of mayor that exists in many other countries.
According to Munro,[1] the provost of Aberdeen was elected on the first Monday after Michaelmas up to the end of the sixteenth century. From then until 1833, the election took place on the first Wednesday after Michaelmas, and from then (at least until 1897) elections were held on the Friday after the first Tuesday in November. He gives the example of John Cheyne, elected 1593, who would have continued in office until the Michaelmas election of 1594. The dates below, up to 1897, recognise this pattern.
Each of the 32 Scottish local authorities elects a Convener or provost, but only the cities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow have a Lord Provost. While this was confirmed in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973[2] and subsequently in the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994[3] the title Lord Provost of Aberdeen was formally established in 1863 when Queen Victoria knighted Sir Alexander Anderson designing him 'Lord Provost of Aberdeen'. Until then, while various petitions, and other documents variously addressed the holder as Lord Provost, the title was correctly Provost of Aberdeen.[4]
Since 1899, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, has also been ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of the city. Following local government re-organisation brought about by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, this arrangement was confirmed in the Lieutenancies Act 1997.[5]
Memorials of the Aldermen, Provosts and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen 1272–1895, Alexander M Munro, 1897