The Lord Mayor of Nottingham

The Lord Mayor is the first citizen of Nottingham.

The Lord Mayor of Nottingham is Councillor Patience Ifediora.

Councillor Patience Uloma Ifediora was born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria. A devoted Christian and active member of her church, she holds a BA in History and a Master’s degree in Political Science (International Relations). She began her professional career in the banking sector in Lagos before relocating to London in 1998.

Since 2006, she has made Nottingham her home. Patience is married and a proud mother of four children. 

Before entering elected office, she worked with Nottingham City Council and E.ON Energy. In 2015, Patience was elected to represent the Aspley Ward, becoming the first woman of African descent elected to Nottingham City Council. She has served on several committees including Overview and Scrutiny, Call-in Panel, Children and Young People Scrutiny, Health Scrutiny, Trusts and Charities, Audit and Communities and Environment Scrutiny.

Beyond her council responsibilities, she has been a board member of Nottingham City Homes and served on the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE). She also represented Nottingham City Council on the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Fire and Rescue Authority. In 2019 Patience was the first person of African descent to be appointed as Sheriff of Nottingham, a position she held for two years. During that time, she represented Nottingham at various functions. Now she is the first person of African descent to be elected as the Lord Mayor of Nottingham.

Patience is passionate about community service and has played a key role in setting up foodbanks across Nottingham in partnership with local organisations.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, travelling, learning new languages, and watching football and other sports. She is deeply grateful to the residents of Aspley Ward for their continued support and is honoured to serve as Lord Mayor of Nottingham for the 2025/2026 civic year.

Key Tasks

• Preside over the meetings of the Council (full Council) as prescribed in the Local Government Act 1972, schedule 12, paragraph 5
• Receive members of the Royal Family and other important visitors to the city
• To act as a symbolic figurehead for Core City activity and host visits by Lord Mayors, councillors and officers from those cities
• Represent the City Council at traditional civic events such as the Legal Service, Remembrance Sunday the Civic Service etc
• Represent the City Council by attending external functions, which celebrate the contribution of organisations from all sectors to the life of the city of Nottingham
• To preside over Citizenship ceremonies to welcome new British citizens to the city of Nottingham
• Take salutes of military and voluntary organisations that either have the right to, or request the right to, march through the city
• To be the president of the Interfaith Council and visit places of worship for a range of faiths throughout the civic year
• To nominate a charity and help raise funds for that charity and the standing Lord Mayor's charities

The Lord Mayor's Chaplain

The post of Lord Mayor's Chaplain is an honorary one, and as such is unpaid. The Chaplain's duties are to give spiritual guidance to the Lord Mayor and support on civic occasions.

The Lord Mayor's Chaplain is Pastor Idy Samuel

For more information please contact the Civic Office