Campaign countdown - the last 12 weeks

The final push

Having submitted election papers to the Electoral Services Department of the Corporation of London before Easter, I have now received confirmation that I am a “validly nominated candidate” for the Election of Sheriffs at Guildhall on 25 June 2018.

With around 12 weeks to go, I want to remind my supporters of the importance of attending Guildhall on the morning of the election and to raise your hand in support of me.

All Liverymen are entitled to attend but only those clothed before May 2017 may vote. Liverymen can obtain passes from their Company Clerks, but Liverymen can gain access without a pass.

Campaign Team

My Campaign Chairman is Rt Hon Sir Tony Baldry DL, Liveryman of the Worshipful Companies of Merchant Taylors, Stationers, Bowyers, Arbitrators and Parish Clerks.

A barrister by profession and head of a set of Commercial Chambers in the Temple, Sir Tony was for 32 years MP for Banbury, Oxfordshire. He was a Government Minister for eight years, under both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including a period of time at the Foreign Office, and he subsequently chaired the Commons Select Committee on International Development. Sir Tony has served terms as a Trustee of both Chatham House and the Overseas Development Institute.

He was knighted for political and public services in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2012, appointed a member of HM Privy Council in November 2013 and became a Lay Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in January 2015.

In the City, Sir Tony is Chairman of the Trustees of St Ethelberga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in Bishopsgate.

My Electoral Agent is Michael Cooper FCA, Past Master (2014-15), Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks, Liveryman, the Worshipful Companies of Butchers and Plumbers and Past Chairman, Society of Young Freemen and Bridge Ward Club.

Michael is a Senior Civil Servant with Defra (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), where he has worked in a range of policy, finance and PPM roles. He was Finance Director of Defra’s largest Executive Agency and is now responsible for co-ordinating the administration of EU-funded agricultural schemes across the UK, reporting to Ministers in Defra and the devolved administrations.

Michael is a Past President of ICAEW Thames Valley Chartered Accountants and has served as Vice President (Finance) of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT since 2013. He is churchwarden and parish clerk of one of the City’s churches and serves as a trustee of a number of other charities. He is married to Felicity and has three children.