Ian Thomas of the City of London Corporation tops the 2027 Powerlist

The chief executive of the City of London Corporation has been named the UK's most influential Black person in the 2027 Powerlist.

Ian Thomas CBE, 57, took first place in the annual ranking, compiled by Powerful Media. According to the Evening Standard and The Independent, he is the 51st Town Clerk of London and the first Black person to lead the City of London's governing body in its more than 900-year history.

The awards night

The list was published on Saturday, following the Celebration of Black Excellence Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House in London on Friday night. The ceremony was hosted by The Apprentice star Tim Campbell.

Two names from the entertainment world were honoured at the gala. Ashley Walters, 44, who stars as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe in the Netflix series Adolescence and played Dushane in Channel 4's Top Boy, received a Paramount Entertainer Award. He also features on the list.

Sir Lenny Henry, 69, collected a Lifetime Achievement Award "for his outstanding contribution to British culture and society". He co-founded Comic Relief, which has helped raise more than £1 billion for charity. He also founded the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and a production company, Esmerelda Productions, which has championed underrepresented voices.

The top 10

• 1. Ian Thomas CBE, Town Clerk and chief executive of the City of London Corporation
• 2. Comfort Ero, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group
• 3. Professor Grace Ononiwu CBE, director general of legal delivery at the Crown Prosecution Service
• 4. Emma Grede, chief executive and co-founder of Good American, and founding partner of Skims
• 5. Pamela Maynard, chief AI transformation officer at Microsoft MCAPS
• 6. Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur and panellist on Dragons' Den
• 7. Josh Siaw MBE, partner at White and Case
• 8. Sir Idris Elba, actor, filmmaker and philanthropist, and chairman of IE7 and Akuna Group
• 9. Ije Nwokorie, chief executive of Dr Martens
• 10. Air Vice-Marshal Ola Fashade, director of strategy and military digitalisation within Defence Digital at the UK Ministry of Defence

For anyone who cares how the city is run as well as how it looks, the range is the point: a local government chief, a fashion and shapewear entrepreneur, a bootmaker's boss, a barrister's rival in the City law firms, and a senior officer in uniform.

Why the list exists

Michael Eboda, chief executive of Powerful Media, said: "The purpose of the Powerlist has never changed." He added: "It exists to show young people of African and African-Caribbean heritage what is possible, in fields they might never have considered but which are accessible."

Of this year's twenty-one editions, he said: "Twenty-one editions on, the evidence of possibility is broader than ever: in boardrooms, in public office, in the Square Mile and in uniform."

The Powerlist has previously been topped by public figures including former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton.

Sources: Evening Standard, The Independent