A few weeks ago I happened to be in the Guildhall when I noticed the sign belonging to the Chief Commoner.
I couldn’t resist it and cheekily had my photo taken with it – I was a bit worried I’d end up in the Tower but luckily got away with it.
In fact a few weeks later I bumped into the Chief Commoner himself (John Scott) at a dinner at Stationers’ Hall (his wife is a Livery member like me) and showed him the photo, he didn’t seem to be too annoyed about it, probably because he was about to end his term of office.
The Chief Commoner is the champion of the interests of the common councillors in the City (as opposed to the more senior Aldermen) and often acts as in effect the representative of the Lord Mayor for the many occasions when they are double booked, and attends innumerable dinners, ceremonies, talks etc on behalf of the Corporation.
John also happens to be one of my local ward councillors, and is an extremely accomplished man, and a really hard working person, a credit to the City of London – and it appears very forgiving!
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about/council/john-scott-jp/
Here is a description of the role.
