The Lord Mayor of London –
2007 / 2008.
Alderman David Lewis the 680th Lord Mayor of London.
A Liveryman of
the Welsh Livery Guild
Alderman
David Lewis was born and raised in the Far East yet remains very proud of his
family’s Welsh roots.
He
has a house and small holding in the Cothi Valley
which ties in with one of his interests – sheep farming.
He
is also the eighth Welsh Lord Mayor since 1189.
After
studying Law at Jesus College Oxford, he went on to join City law firm Norton
Rose as an Articled Clerk.
Since
then he has risen through the ranks and returned to the place of his birth by
qualifying as a solicitor in Hong Kong and then becoming Managing Partner of
Norton Rose’s Hong Kong office.
He
was the company’s Chairman and Senior Partner in 1997-2003 and now acts
as a consultant.
He
is Alderman for the Ward of Broad Street and Junior Warden for the
Solicitors’ Company, a liveryman of the Fletchers’ company and, not
surprisingly, a liveryman of the Welsh Livery Guild.
As
Lord Mayor, Alderman Lewis is based in the UK and promotes UK-based financial
services.
He welcomes the head of state and foreign
dignitaries on behalf of the government, has a UK visits schedule that allows
him to keep in touch with developments in key cities outside of London and
lobbies on behalf of business with Whitehall and Westminster.
He spends a significant portion of his
year abroad meeting with business leaders and government representatives to
sell the City as a place to do business; and lobbying in Brussels for UK
business.
His other interests, which include
cartography and travel, will certainly come in handy given the amount of travel
he will be doing during 2008.
Alderman
Lewis will be supported throughout his year by his wife Theresa. A teacher,
both in the UK and in Hong Kong, Theresa exercises her creative spirit through
her interest in ceramics.
She is also a liveryman of the
Glaziers’ Company and sells her glass artwork in aid of ORBIS – one
of their chosen charities.