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The General and the Lady Mayor -
Asking a question ...
Lady Mayor's Defence and Security Lecture
9th September 2026Egyptian Room, Mansion House
The annual Lord Mayor’s Defence and Security Lecture took place this evening at the Mansion House, in the Egyptian Room. It is one of a series inaugurated over a decade ago to increase awareness of defence and security issues in the City of London. The proposal for the lecture came from the City of London Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (City RFCA), of which each Lord or Lady Mayor is President during their tenure.
The speaker was General Sir James Everard KCB CBE (retired). Sir James has just finished a five year tour as NATO’s senior Military Mentor, supporting the NATO Defence Chiefs. This followed his appointment as NATO’s Deputy Supreme Commander Europe 2017-20 after time spent as Commander Field Army 2014-17 and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (MSO) 2013-14.
Sir James' themes were the current and future threats to our security, the need for significant defence spending, and impacts on the City of London. I won't say more here, other than that it made for extremely uncomfortable listening.
This year the Lecture was the culmination of a wider Defence event at the Mansion House. A Defence and Resilience Tech Scale Up event took place during the afternoon, organised by the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, which brought together tech businesses with finance and investment organisations.
We must now consider how to continue the conversation amongst our wider audiences to ensure that awareness and knowledge are heightened appropriately.