Ian Thomas, first Black head of the City of London Corporation, is named most influential Black Briton

Ian Thomas, the chief executive of the City of London Corporation, has been named the most influential Black Briton in the 2027 Powerlist, placing first in a ranking now in its 21st edition.

Mr Thomas, 57, serves as Town Clerk and chief executive of the body that governs the Square Mile. He is the 51st person to hold the post and the first Black person to lead the organisation in its more than 900-year history. The list, published by Powerful Media, recognises the most powerful people of African and Caribbean heritage in the UK.

Who joined the most influential Black Briton in the top 10?

The rest of the top 10 spans law, international affairs, business, technology, entertainment and the military. Comfort Ero, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, is second. Professor Grace Ononiwu, director general of legal delivery at the Crown Prosecution Service, is third. Emma Grede, co-founder of Good American and a founding partner of Skims, takes fourth.

Pamela Maynard, chief AI transformation officer at Microsoft MCAPS, is fifth, followed by Dragons’ Den panellist Steven Bartlett. Josh Siaw, a partner at White and Case, is seventh. Sir Idris Elba is eighth, Dr Martens chief executive Ije Nwokorie ninth, and Air Vice-Marshal Ola Fashade of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Digital unit tenth.

Awards night at Grosvenor House

The list was released on Saturday, after the Celebration of Black Excellence Awards at Grosvenor House in London on Friday night. The ceremony was hosted by Tim Campbell, the winner of the first UK series of The Apprentice.

Actor Ashley Walters, 44, who is also on the list, received the Paramount Entertainer Award. He is known for playing Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe in Netflix’s Adolescence and drug dealer Dushane in Channel 4’s Top Boy. Sir Lenny Henry, 69, received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to British culture and society. He co-founded Comic Relief, which has raised more than £1 billion for charity, and set up the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and the production company Esmerelda Productions.

Why the Powerlist says it matters

Michael Eboda, chief executive of Powerful Media, said the list’s purpose has not changed: to show young people of African and African-Caribbean heritage what is possible in fields they might never have considered but which are within reach. He pointed to the breadth of examples after 21 editions, citing boardrooms, public office, the Square Mile and the armed forces.

That reference to the Square Mile is notable this year, given that the person named most influential Black Briton leads its governing body. Previous winners include former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and Formula One champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, so Mr Thomas joins a list of leaders drawn from very different fields.

For Mr Thomas, the ranking comes with a historic first attached. The Powerlist’s organisers say they hope that kind of milestone will encourage the next generation to aim for similar roles.

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File photo: City of London skyline from London City Hall – Oct 2008.jpg by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.