Putting the pride back into London: the Lady Mayor’s fight against disinformation

Strolling across the concourse in front of the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange in the City of London one’s eyes are drawn to the striking banners wrapped around the six columns that dominate the frontage of Mansion House. The home of Lord Mayors for almost 200 years has been turned into a giant advertising hording.

To some this might seem shocking but getting the message out about everything that makes London, and its financial and professional services sectors, great has never been more necessary.

It is part of a bold promotional campaign launched by the Lady Mayor Dame Susan Langley to counter the flood of disinformation about London. One of the Mayor’s key roles is representing the City of London around the world and it was some visits earlier this year that alerted her to a growing image problem for London.

At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, she said people were telling her London and the UK did not promote itself effectively “You guys, you’ve got it all – you’ve got the talent, the ecosystem, the rule of law, education, the time zone, the liquidity”, she was told but then they added, “You’re so hard on yourselves”.

That’s so true and is getting worse with Reform and its allies seemingly determined to talk the country down at every opportunity.

The alarm bells really started ringing when she was confronted with some disturbingly negative views of London. She tells of hearing about senior people “frightened of coming over” because they think “if they step outside their office they’ll be wrestled to the ground and stabbed” and another saying a colleague was coming to London and wasn’t going to wear any of her jewellery or her watch because she would be attacked.

Living under Sharia Law?
It was when, on a visit to the United States, she was asked what it was like to live in an Islamic capital under Sharia Law that she realised the problem was serious and required a robust response.

“We have to take control of our own narrative and stand up and talk confidently about our City”, she said at a Mansion House event just last month.

She and her City of London colleagues have moved with admirable speed to launch a hard-hitting campaign. It didn’t spend weeks being pushed around in committees, risking being watered down by endless consultation and caution. Something need to be done and sooner rather than later. The Lady Mayor has delivered on her promise to get the City to take control of its own narrative.

Much of it is focussed on social media where too many people – many who should know better – live in a disinformation bubble. While it says straight out “You’ve seen the clickbait, now read the facts”, it is an overwhelmingly positive campaign.

It is a big challenge to counter the maliciously ignorant slurs about our capital and its successful financial services but it is a very welcome start, showing that the Mayoralty is much, much more than just parades, dinners and tradition. In Dame Sue’s hands it is providing genuine leadership in the face of a very modern challenge.