A Woolf in Lord Mayor’s clothing
CITY lawyer Fiona Woolf was yesterday appointed as the next Lord Mayor of London, marking only the second time a woman has been elected to the post in its 800-year history.
Woolf, an energy partner at CMS Cameron McKenna and sheriff of the City from 2010-11, will take up her role at a traditional silent ceremony on 8 November.
As the first woman to inherit the royal livery collar and mace since Mary Donaldson in 1983, Woolf is no stranger to trailblazing, having been CMS’s first female partner back in 1981.
But while her wide range of experience will give Woolf plenty of ideas to help promote the City across the world, energy companies may bemoan the timing of her withdrawal from the private sector. Woolf led the legal team on the privatisation of the National Grid and has been “at the cutting edge of all the major reforms in the electricity sector for over 20 years” – a skillset that could come in handy if Ed Miliband gets to push ahead with his plans for a price freeze.