List of mayors of Manchester


This is a list of the mayors and lord mayors of Manchester in the North West of England.
Manchester was incorporated in 1838 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 as the Corporation of Manchester or Manchester Corporation. It achieved city status in 1853, only the second such grant since the Reformation. The area included in the city has been increased many times, in 1885, 1890, 1903, 1904, 1909, 1931, and Ringway. A new town hall was opened in 1877 and the then-current and future mayors of Manchester were granted the title of Lord Mayor in 1893. Anthony Marshall was the last mayor and the first lord mayor.
In 1984, the city council – at that time controlled by the left-leaning Labour party – voted to reduce the pomp and rate-payer cost associated with the position, changing the title to Chair of the Manchester City Council, following the lead of some Greater London boroughs. This change dispensed with the elaborate robes and chain of office, and no longer provided the traditional tax-funded, eight-room apartment for the officeholder to live in. These changes were unpopular in the area, especially after focused agitation against them by the Manchester Evening News, which labelled them a political move originated by non-local leftist activists. The title Lord Mayor continued to be used frequently, especially outside the city council. The first of the three successive chairs of council was Kenneth Strath in the 1985–1986 term, and the last was Eileen Kelly, 1987–1988, Later officeholders were referred to again as lord mayors consistently, and permitted to use the traditional vestments associated with the office.

Mayors of Manchester

1838–1893

Lord mayors of Manchester

19th century

20th century

21st century