The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty five Aldermen of the City of London and the Recorder of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior Aldermen during his year of office). The Court was originally responsible for the entire administration of the City, but most of its responsibilities were subsumed by the Court of Common Council in the fourteenth century. The Court of Aldermen meets nine times a year in the Aldermen’s Court Room at Guildhall. Some of the remaining duties of the Court include approving people for the Freedom of the City and approving the formation of new Livery Companies and Guilds, appointing the Recorder of London (senior Judge at the Central Criminal Court) and acting as the Verderers of Epping Forest. Aldermen are elected at least every six years (separately from the Common Councillor elections, and not all at once). Today the Court of Common Council (100 Common Councillors and 25 Aldermen) governs the City of London Corporation, the oldest continuous municipal democracy in the world, which in turn acts as local authority for the geographic Square Mile around St Paul’s, among many other roles. The range of services the City provides its workers, residents and visitors and the national and international work the City is called upon to perform is unique.
2024/25
The document below, complete with insightful videos, provides an excellent overview of the Court of Aldermen 2024/25.
The Membership of the Court of Aldermen is also listed on the City of London website.
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