The Best Mayoral Photo Ops of the Year

Sommer Mathis

December 29, 2014

Around the world, mayors are more powerful than ever. But they still have to pose for lots of weird pictures.

There is indeed a growing global movement to give mayors more power, or, if you will, to let them rule the world instead of so many faltering national governments—but forget all that for now. No, today we're here to focus on a decidedly less lofty, more nitty-gritty aspect of what it meant to be a mayor in 2014. Because unlike presidents, the world's mayors regularly walk among the people. They stop and chat. They shake hands and kiss babies. And above all, they pose for far weirder pictures than any other top elected official.

Here we have Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson posing with cosplayers at the 2014 Ottawa Comiccon, which took place in May. There's a lot to like about this photo—the sheer variety of nerdtastic themes on display, the mayor's willingness to hold and pose with that storm trooper's blaster—but the best part has to be Watson's joyful geek smile. You just know he's thinking about racing home to catch the next episode of *Game of Thrones*. (Ottawa Citizen)

This is Darryn Lyons, mayor of Geelong, a medium-sized Australian city just south of Melbourne. Now listen: Most mayors and lord mayors in Australia occasionally don poncy mayoral robes and chains of office like these for formal ceremonies, and this is in fact Lyons' inaugural portrait, dated February 27, 2014. But! And this is a big but: rather few mayors and lord mayors in Australia choose to wear their mayoral robes while also sporting a bleached blonde mohawk, spreading their legs across not one but two rare animal skins, and posing in front of a portrait of what appears to be a nude woman, shall we say, enjoying herself. Well played, Mayor Lyons. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)

I know, I know, including any image featuring London Mayor Boris Johnson in a list of this sort is practically cheating—he's the Muppet King of Mayors, bouncing around London with his crazy hair and total disregard for whether he appears to be an utter goofball. But back in October, Johnson accidentally tripped a small child during a public appearance at a youth soccer match. And there's a GIF of it. You're welcome.