The chief administrative officer? A legal adviser? A mere keeper of the records? What is the true role of the English Town Clerk who for centuries has been the leading official in the country’s great towns and cities. Originally published in 1962, this volume surveys in detail their duties, and the problems and opportunities facing them at the time.

The Town Clerk is the council’s leading spokesperson in their contacts with the outside world – the public, Members of Parliament, and government departments. The Town Clerk is also the coordinator who harmonizes the work of the various departments and helps the council to ensure that their activities are combined in a consistent whole.

Good relations between the Town Clerk and the council and its committees are essential to efficient administration. The book discusses the Town Clerk’s contribution from the preparation of committee agenda to their role in council meetings. Equally important are their relations with the council’s leading members – the mayor, the committee chairpeople, and the party leaders, and these, too, are vividly portrayed. These are the vital aspects of the practical daily functioning of the system on which textbooks at the time seldom threw much light.

The author, T. E. Headrick, an American scholar, brings a fresh and detached view to the English local government scene with the illuminating study of the local council’s chief officer. Today it can be read in its historical context.