The Chair of the Council

The Chair is elected by the District Councillors at the Annual Meeting in May each year. The Deputy-Chair is appointed at the same meeting.

Any elected Member of the Council is eligible for appointment to the office of Chair apart from Members of the Cabinet.

• The current Chair is Cllr Mike Best
• The current Deputy Chair is Cllr Lee Baker

The Chair of the Council has two main roles:

1. Civic Role – The Chair acts as an ambassador for Somerset Council.  They represent the Council at civic and ceremonial events.

2. Council Role

The Chair is responsible for:

• upholding and promoting good governance in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.
• presiding over meetings of the Council, the Chair has a casting vote in all decisions taken by the Council and this is exercised in the event of a tie at a Council meeting.

The role of the Chair is separate from that of the Leader of the Council who is the political head of the Council and will speak for the Council on all aspects of policy and Cabinet business. The Deputy Chair supports the Chair in their role and will act as the Chair in their absence.

Regardless of their political affiliation whilst acting as an elected Councillor, during their yearlong office the Chair is obligated to be impartial and represent the council and district as a whole.

For more information about the Chair or Vice Chair of the Council,  please contact Stephanie Gold, PA to Chair of Council (Mike Best).

Phone: 01823 355918
Email: civicoffice1@somerset.gov.uk

The Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset

His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of a county is an Honorary Officer appointed by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister. He or she is the permanent representative of the Crown in that county and normally serves until retirement at between 70 and 75 years of age.

Somerset Lieutenancy covers the historic county of Somerset (that is the areas administered by Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset County Councils). The total population of these areas at the last census was 981,700.

The office dates from the reign of Henry VIII, and the Lord-Lieutenant was originally responsible for the maintenance of order and for local defence. Nowadays the responsibilities of the Lord-Lieutenant include:

• All aspects of visits by members of the Royal Family, and escorting Royal Visitors
• Presentation of awards and medals on behalf of The King
• Representing The King at a variety of events
• Liaison with local units of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, and with the reserve forces and cadets
• Participation in civic and voluntary activity within the Lieutenancy
• Advising on honours nominations
• Chairmanship of the Advisory Committee which recommends the appointment of magistrates to the Lord Chancellor

On ceremonial occasions Lord-Lieutenants wear uniform, or a special badge of office. The Lord-Lieutenant is supported by a Vice Lord-Lieutenant and by Deputy Lieutenants. He appoints them from people who have rendered particular service to the county in a variety of ways. The number depends on the size of population. There are normally between 30 and 40 Deputy Lieutenants.

Office contact details

Address: Lieutenancy Office, County Hall, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4DY
Email: Justin.Fudge@somerset.gov.uk or Julia.Knight@somerset.gov.uk
Phone: 01823 356726 or 01823 355509

You can also find out more on The Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset website

The High Sheriff of Somerset

The Office of High Sheriff is at least 1000 years old, having its roots in Saxon times, before the Norman Conquest. It is the oldest continuous secular office under the Crown. Originally, the office held many of the powers now vested in HM Lord-Lieutenants, High Court Judges, Magistrates, local authorities, Coroners and even the Inland Revenue.

The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII, when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenants the prime office under the Crown as the sovereign’s personal representative. Lord-Lieutenants were created in 1547 for military duties in the shires. The High Sheriff remains the sovereign’s representative in the county for all matters relating to the judiciary and the maintenance of law and order.

Functions of the office

High Sheriffs are responsible in the counties of England and Wales for duties conferred by the Crown through warrant from the Privy Council, including:

• Attendance at Royal visits to the county
• The well-being and protection of Her Majesty’s High Court judges when on circuit in the county and attending them in court during legal terms
• Acting as the Returning Officer for Parliamentary Elections in county constituencies
• Responsibilities for the proclamation of the accession of a new sovereign
• The maintenance of the loyalty of subjects to the Crown
• In Somerset, the leading role in Somerset Crimebeat

Nominations for High Sheriff

Nominations to the office of High Sheriff are dealt with through the presiding Judge of the Circuit and the Privy Council, for consideration by the Sovereign in Council. The annual nominations of three prospective High Sheriffs for each county are made in a meeting of the Lords of the Council in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, presided over by the Lord Chief Justice on 12 November each year.

Subsequently, the selection of new High Sheriffs is made annually in a meeting of the Privy Council by the Sovereign, when the custom of ‘pricking’ the appointee’s name with a bodkin is perpetuated.

The Sheriff’s Year

The High Sheriff takes up appointment upon making a sworn declaration in terms dictated by the Sheriff’s Act 1887. The appointment is for one year only, except in the event of something untoward happening to the High Sheriff’s expected successor. In this case a High Sheriff must remain in office until the appointment of a successor is executed.

High Sheriffs are now encouraged by the Shrievalty Association of England and Wales to help boost the morale of people working in both volunteer and official organisations that support law and order and the criminal justice system.

It is an independent, non-political office which enables the holder to bring together a wide variety of individuals and office holders for the good of the community a High Sheriff serves. In recent years, High Sheriffs in many parts of England and Wales have been particularly active in the field of crime reduction and the development of an anti-crime culture, particularly among young people – Somerset Crimebeat.

The High Sheriff receives no pay or expenses.

In Wells Cathedral

The new High Sheriff is formally sworn-in towards the end of March each year. The new High Sheriff is presented in the cathedral at the Legal Service, giving the opportunity for a prayer of thanksgiving for the past year and a welcome for the year to come.

Find more information on The High Sheriff of Somerset website