What’s In A Ward?

A Response From The Guests To The United Wards Club Professor Michael Mainelli, Guildhall, 16 March 2026 President, Past President, Past Past Presidents, Chairmen, Masters, Ward Club members, distinguished guests all:
“Bright Lights, Open Minds, Robust Community”

A Response From The Guests To The United Wards Club Professor Michael Mainelli, Guildhall, 16 March 2026 President, Past President, Past Past Presidents, Chairmen, Masters, Ward Club members, distinguished guests all:

Today’s Lady Mayor Show reminded me to share a little history about the mace that accompanies me in the Show, in turn accompanied by the Broad Street Ward Beadle.

My dear friend Dr Geoff Browell and his team, Tam McDonald, Christopher Winn, and Mark Mason, producers of the London Timeline podcast, had the courage to ask me to hold forth on an eclectic and personal view of London’s history…

Yes, I can’t resist an obscure reference to a 1993 parody B, but fun, film, Hot Shots! Part Deux. Pepys Day! Part Deux was also enormous fun with a bit of parody thrown in too.

[An edited version of this article appeared as “Pepys Day: Raise A Toast To London’s Best Diarist” in City AM on 2 September 2025] Friday, 5 September 2025, marks the second annual Pepys Day in London. If you missed last…

Great news to share…

It was a cordially-contested election with a result of 70% in my favour. My acceptance remarks this evening went:

Alderman, Ladies & Gentlemen, After one of his lengthy, repetitive speeches Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev confronted his speechwriter. “I asked for a 15 minute speech, but that lasted an hour!” The speechwriter replied: “Comrade, it was 15 minutes, but I…

Re-Elect Professor Michael Mainelli for Alderman of Broad Street Ward Today I submitted my papers to stand for a third term as Alderman for Broad Street Ward.
We concluded our bi-monthly series of Mayor’s Progress reports with our final report card. Though any Lord Mayor wishes she or he could claim credit for creating jobs (makes it worth all those dinners, speeches, promotional activity, videos, overseas visits,…