Resident with his wife, Lesley, and family at West End House in Totteridge for over 30 years, Sir John Stuttard has just spent a year in the Mansion House as LordMayor of the City of London. In this article Sir John, who is a Vice-President of the TRA and a former Treasurer and former Chairman of the Totteridge Manor Association, reflects on this amazing experience which, along with his many charitable activities, resulted in his knighthood for "public service" - announced in the Queen's 2008 New Year?s Honours List.

Being the 679th person to be elected Lord Mayor of the City of London demonstrates the importance of the Office, which dates from 1189, compared to the individual.As head of the City of London Corporation, Admiral of the Port of London, Chancellor of the City University and Chief Magistrate of the City, living in a stunning 18th Century stately home (theMansion House) and receiving Heads of State and PrimeMinisters, the position could easily go to one?s head. Travelling in a chauffeur-driven Phantom VI Rolls-Royce, accompanied by a police escort, is certainly an effective way of beating London?s traffic. But the fact that the term of office is just 12 months and that there have been 678 people before me help to curb any folies de grandeur.

Perhaps the most famous LordMayor was DickWhittington, after whom the well known pantomime was written. Actually, most of the story, including the tale of the cat, is a Victorian fable. Even the number of times he is said to have served the office ? three times ? is wrong.Actually, he was Lord Mayor on four occasions, although elected only thrice. Perhaps less well known is the fact that he was the first person to introduce a public convenience in the City ? a 64 seater - thus bringing much relief to many. But enough of that.

The best known ?Mayoral? event is the Lord Mayor?s Show, a three-mile long procession that, each November, takes the new Lord Mayor from Guildhall to the Royal Courts of Justice to swear an oath of allegiance to the Monarch before the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls. Nowadays, this serious purpose is also the occasion for a ?show? where schools, community projects, cadet groups, the livery companies, the Armed Forces and many marching bands form ?floats? - a throwback to the days when the procession went by river to the Borough of Westminster. Now the Show participants entertain the huge crowds that come to watch one of the country?s greatest spectacles and the oldest procession, and the longest-running TV outside broadcast, in the world. It was great to have a contingent of pupils from St Andrew?s School, under the watchful eye of Mrs Locke, coming to watch my Show in November 2006.

Such pageantry goes with the Office of Lord Mayor, who can be seen at St Paul?s (processing up the aisle), at School prizegivings, at theAnnual Children?s Party atMansion House, and in 2006, at BevisMarks (to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Jewish people being permitted by Oliver Cromwell to return to England), and, in 2007, at the Old Bailey (welcoming Her Majesty on the occasion of the Centenary of the Opening of the Central Criminal Court by her great-grandfather, Edward VI), at Golders Hill Park (for the Centenary of Hampstead Garden Suburb) as well as Guildhall (to welcome home our boys and girls - soldiers of the London Regiment - fromAfghanistan). Greeting Heads of State at Guildhall, such as President Kufuor of Ghana and the King of Saudi Arabia, here on State Visits, with all the pomp and ceremony that goes with it, including State trumpeters from the Guards, is a stunning sight - more than enough to catch anybody?s eye, including the Media who lay on a barrage of photographers.

Then the Lord Mayor has his own charitable appeal and last year, mine focused on crossborder learning, stressing the benefits of spending time in other countries working with other races and religions. My Lord Mayor?s Appeal, which raised over £2 million, was managed by Voluntary Service Overseas, whose mission is to eliminate global poverty through a transfer of skills. I myself spent a year in Borneo in 1966 as an English teacher and know the benefit of skills-transfer and cross-cultural contact.

But the main role of the Lord Mayor is, as it has always been, to promote the businesses of the City of London. When Sir Thomas Alleyn Bt, a former Totteridge resident, was Lord Mayor in 1659, the City?s businesses comprised everyday trades such as bakers, butchers, carpenters, drapers, fishmongers, goldsmiths, ironmongers and vintners, as well as gardeners, glaziers and gunsmiths. Nowadays, the City?s businesses are mainly in the financial sector ? banking, insurance, securities dealing, fund management, derivatives trading, accountancy, the law, maritime services, consultancy and property. I promoted the entire UK-based financial sector, regardless of ownership and regardless of location. Financial institutions in Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester were as much my ?clients? as companies based in theWest End and CanaryWharf.

Each LordMayor spends around 100 working days abroad in some 22 countries, together with business delegations.Around 100 heads of state, ministers and ambassadors will visit Mansion House during the year. Our aim is to ensure that City of London remains the prime international financial services centre in the world.

Occasionally, I was confused with the ?other? Mayor, Ken Livingstone. But not for long. I?ve always explained that Ken looks after the transport in London (the congestion charge, the bendy buses and the Underground) whereas I looked after the financial sector, known collectively under the umbrella name of ?The City?. Of course the City of London Corporation and the GLAwork very closely together and it was a particular pleasure that the Prime Minister announced the go-ahead for Cross Rail during my Mayoral Year.

It was also a great pleasure that, in my year, surveys showed that ?The City? had become the prime financial services centre in the world. ?The City? is now a great driver of the UK economy, expanding faster than GDP, contributing 25% to the country?s corporate tax take. Yet it is also the most international city in the world, with almost 50% of the property owned by foreign financial institutions, employing over 200,000 foreign nationals, with Deutsche Bank the biggest employer.

The role of the Lord Mayor is to keep ?The City? successful. And a key success factor is the availability of skilled resources. Thousands of people come to London each year from the Provinces and from abroad. They come to be trained and to get work experience and they bring with them energy and imagination. They work hard and they add a huge amount of value. They are essential to the success of our academic institutions as well as to the City?s businesses.We have some of the best universities and the best professional institutes in the world. So, recognising this expertise and reflecting the importance of people and of education, I embarked on a campaign during my year to promote the UK as the place to obtain a business education and professional qualification, under the banner ?City of London ? City of Learning?.

For my wife Lesley and me, the Mayoral Year was an exhilarating and fulfilling experience, but also an exhausting one. The rather full diary has revealed a staggering 1,844 engagements, 466 formal lunches and dinners, 764 speeches and 133 media interviews. On one rather exceptional day there were no fewer than 14 different events or meetings. Now it?s simply wonderful to be back in Totteridge, enjoying a long rest and slowly getting back to normal, after a memorable and unrepeatable year.

And when reflecting on this extraordinary period, I would like to thank the TRA, the TMA, StAndrew?s School and StAndrew?s Church for their support over the years ? and particular thanks to Anthony Eskenzi who, as Chief Commoner, welcomed me into the City?s Court of Common Council in 2001 when I was first elected an Alderman, and to Eileen Eskenzi, President of the TRA, for all her work for Totteridge over the years and for the support to us last year. It was also a great pleasure to share our last 12 months in this special role in the City with so many friends from Totteridge.