A woman has been elected Lord Mayor of London for only the second time in the institution\u2019s 800-year history.<\/p>\n
Fiona Woolf, a partner at London-based law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, will don the ceremonial ermine and tricorn in November as she becomes the 686th head of the City of London Corporation, the Square Mile\u2019s local authority.<\/p>\n
Ms Woolf, 65, is an expert in electricity markets and infrastructure. During her 40-year career, the privatisation specialist has worked in Argentina, India and Turkey, and lead the 38-strong team that advised on the privatisation of the National Grid electricity transmission<\/p>\n
network in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
In 1981, Ms Woolf became the first woman to become a partner at her law firm. Dick Tyler, senior partner at CMS Cameron McKenna, said she had driven the creation of the firm\u2019s global practice in energy markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was always a trailblazer. Forget the fact that she was a woman,\u201d Mr Tyler said.<\/p>\n
One industry expert said she had a \u201chighly commercial, pragmatic\u201d style tempered by the political aspects of working with governments. \u201cShe would see all the angles,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n
The Lord Mayor plays a largely ambassadorial role for the City, spending at least three months of a year-long period of office promoting the UK financial services industry in overseas markets.<\/p>\n
But the sector remains under considerable pressure over banking reform, Britain\u2019s uncertain future in Europe and the reverberations of the Libor scandal.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging the challenges faced by the City, Ms Woolf highlighted its importance to the economy. \u201cDespite all the difficulties, the UK financial, business and professional services sectors continue to play a crucial role in driving jobs and growth in the UK and right across the world,\u201d she said in a statement following her election yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ms Woolf, a former president of the Law Society of England and Wales and until this year a member of the Competition Commission, worked with the World Bank on bringing electricity infrastructure to countries emerging from war, including Liberia and Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n
As Lord Mayor, she follows in the footsteps of Mary Donaldson, who became the first woman to be elected to the post in 1983. Ms Woolf\u2019s election will shine a light on gender balance in a City that remains male-dominated, particularly at senior levels.<\/p>\n
Just 6 per cent of managing directors in the Square Mile are women, and one-fifth of mid- to senior positions are filled by women, according to a survey last year by Astbury Marsden, recruitment agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe might act as a beacon to others, drawing attention to the fact there are more women in the City than in the past,\u201d Mr Tyler said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Woolf will succeed Roger Gifford, who headed the UK arm of Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Bank. Her accession will take<\/p>\n
place on November 8, when Mr Gifford steps down at the Guildhall in a ritual known as the silent Ceremony. \u00a0from the FInancial Times<\/p>\n
A woman has been elected Lord Mayor of London for only the second time in the institution\u2019s 800-year history. Fiona Woolf, a partner at London-based law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, will don the ceremonial ermine and tricorn in November as … Continue reading ![\"Fiona](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Fiona-Woolf.jpg\")
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