| Mayor of London | |
|---|---|
| Greater London Authority | |
| Style | No courtesy or style ascribed[1] |
| Type | Council Leader |
| Status | Chief executive officer |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | London Assembly |
| Seat | City Hall, London |
| Appointer | Electorate of London |
| Term length | Four years, renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Greater London Authority Act 1999, s 2(1)(a) |
| Inaugural holder | Ken Livingstone |
| Deputy | Statutory Deputy Mayor of London |
| Salary | £152,734[2] |
| Website | london.gov.uk/mayor |
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of England on the |
| Politics of London |
|---|
 |
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.[3]
The current mayor is Sadiq Khan, who took office on 9 May 2016. The position was held by Ken Livingstone from the creation of the role on 4 May 2000 until he was defeated in May 2008 by Boris Johnson, who then also served two terms before being succeeded by Khan.
The mayor is scrutinised by the London Assembly and, supported by their Mayoral Cabinet, directs the entirety of London, including the City of London (for which there is also the Lord Mayor of the City of London). Each London Borough also has a ceremonial mayor or, in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets, an elected mayor.
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London's Secret Mayor who runs The Secret City
Transcription
The City of London is a unique place -- it's the city in a city (in a country in a country) that runs its government with perhaps the most complicated elections in the world involving medieval guilds, modern corporations, mandatory titles and fancy hats, all of which are connected in this horrifying org chart. Why so complicated? Though the new Skyscrapers might make you think the City of London is relatively young, it's actually the oldest continuous government on the Island of Great Britain. The City of London predates the Empire that Victoria ruled, the Kingdoms Anne united and the Magna Carta that John, reluctantly, signed. While the London which surrounds the city only got to electing its first Mayor in 2000, the list of Mayors who've governed the City of London is almost 700 people long going back more than a thousand years. The City of London's government is so old there's no surviving record of when it was born -- there are only documents, like the Magna Carta, which mention the pre-existing powers the City of London already had at that time. While a government like the United States's officially gets its power from the people, and Parliament gets its power from the Crown, (which in turn gets it from God), the City of London gets its power from 'time immemorial' meaning that the City is so old, it just is. And that age brings with it unusual and complicated traditions, the most notable of these, perhaps, is that in city of London elections, companies get votes. Quite a lot actually, about 3/4th of the votes cast in City elections are from companies with the remaining 1/4th from residents. The way it works is that the bigger a company is the more votes it gets from the City of London. The companies then give their votes to select employees who work, but do not live, within the city and it's these employees who do the actual voting at election time. The result is that the Common Council, the bureaucratic beating heart of the City of London, has about 20 common councilors elected by residents of the city and about 80 elected by companies of the city. The reasoning behind this unusual tradition is that for every 1 person who lives in the City of London, 43 people commute in every day. In total that's 300,000 commuters using City services and whose employment depends on the City of London being business friendly. The man in charge of the common council and who heads The City's government is The Right Honorable, the Lord Mayor of London. Now, suppose *you* want to be Lord Mayor, Surely, just as in that other London all you'll need do is a) Be a British, Commonwealth, or EU citizen, who has b) lived in the city for a year, and who c) wins the election Right? No, in The City of London, that's not nearly enough. Ready for the qualifications list? Before you even run for Lord Mayor you need have been a Sheriff of The City of London. But before you can be Sheriff, you need to be an Aldermen. What's an Aldermen? Well, the City of London is divided into 25 wards, and each Ward elects one Aldermen to represent it on the Court of Aldermen -- a sub-section of the common council. Before you can run for Alderman, you need to gain Freeman Status... and who gives out freeman status? Why none other than the very Court of Aldermen you're trying to get elected to. Which might just seem like a conflict of interest. Luckily there is another way to get the freeman status -- join one of the City's Guilds -- sadly, they aren't called guilds, they're called Livery Companies (a name which is both more boring and less descriptive), but the remnants of medieval guilds many of them are and within the City there are 108 of them to choose from including, but not limited to, The Apothecaries The Fishmongers The Masons The Mercers The Scientific Instrument Makers The Bankers The Shipwrights The Wheelwrights The Butchers, The bakers, *Two* different candlestick makers, and the most exciting of all: The Chartered Accountants! Many of these guilds, like the Fletchers, have become charities, but some are still active, such as the Goldsmiths who test the quality of British coinage and the Hackney carriage drivers who license taxi drivers. To join one of these guilds you'll either need to meet the professional requirements, or for the charities like the Haberdashers you'll need the approval of two existing members, others won't tell you how to become a members. If, you meet none of the Livery Companies membership requirements, but you think you'll be a clever clogs and start your *own* Livery Company and grant *yourself* freeman status, tough luck because new Livery Companies need to be approved by, you guessed it, the Court of Aldermen. But let's assume one way or another you get the official freeman status certificate, now you can finally run for Aldermen of a Ward -- after the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee also approves of you. But, that small barrier passed, you can win election as Aldermen in either one of the 4 wards where people live or the 21 wards where companies live. Once on the court of aldermen to continue your path to the Mayor's Office in Guildhall, you must now be elected as sheriff, but this time it's the members of the Livery Companies who pick the sheriffs. So *if* the Livery Company members elect you as Sheriff, *after* you have successfully completed your term *then* you can finally run for Mayor. But, surprisingly the, residents of the City of London don't vote for the Mayor, our old friends on the Court of Aldermen do. So in summary, once you get freeman status from either the court of aldermen or the livery companies and after your ward elected you as alderman and then the livery companies elect you as sheriff and after your term as sheriff ends but while you're still on the court of aldermen then you can run for Mayor. And -- assuming the other aldermen select you, finally take your place as **The Right Honorable, The Lord Mayor of London** -- for one year, with no salary. And you have to cover your own expenses, which will be quite considerable as your new job consists mostly of making hundreds of speeches a year around the world promoting city business. But you do get that fancy hat, which just might make it all worth while.
Background
The Greater London Council, the elected government for Greater London, was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985. Strategic functions were split off to various joint arrangements. Londoners voted in a referendum in 1998 to create a new governance structure for Greater London. The directly elected mayor of London was created by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 in 2000 as part of the reforms.
Elections
The mayor is elected by the first-past-the-post system for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May. Prior to the Elections Act 2022, the supplementary vote method was used. There are no limits on the number of terms a mayor may serve. The mayor is elected by the largest single-member electorate in the United Kingdom.
As with most elected posts in the United Kingdom, there is a deposit (in this case of £10,000), which is returnable on the candidate's winning of at least 5% of votes cast.
Most recent election
The most recent London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021, having been delayed from May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The results were announced in the evening of 8 May.[5] Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a second term, beating the Conservative Shaun Bailey in the second round.
| Mayor of London election 6 May 2021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | First round votes Transfer votes
| ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Labour | Sadiq Khan | 1,013,721 | 40.0% | 192,313 | 1,206,034 | 55.2% |
| |
| Conservative | Shaun Bailey | 893,051 | 35.3% | 84,550 | 977,601 | 44.8% |
| |
| Green | Siân Berry | 197,976 | 7.8% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Luisa Porritt | 111,716 | 4.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Niko Omilana | 49,628 | 2.0% |
| ||||
| Reclaim | Laurence Fox | 47,634 | 1.9% |
| ||||
| London Real | Brian Rose | 31,111 | 1.2% |
| ||||
| Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison | 28,012 | 1.1% |
| ||||
| Count Binface | Count Binface | 24,775 | 1.0% |
| ||||
| Women's Equality | Mandu Reid | 21,182 | 0.8% |
| ||||
| Let London Live | Piers Corbyn | 20,604 | 0.8% |
| ||||
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson | 16,826 | 0.7% |
| ||||
| UKIP | Peter Gammons | 14,393 | 0.6% |
| ||||
| Independent | Farah London | 11,869 | 0.5% |
| ||||
| Heritage | David Kurten | 11,025 | 0.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Nims Obunge | 9,682 | 0.4% |
| ||||
| SDP | Steve Kelleher | 8,764 | 0.3% |
| ||||
| Renew | Kam Balayev | 7,774 | 0.3% |
| ||||
| Independent | Max Fosh | 6,309 | 0.2% |
| ||||
| Burning Pink | Valerie Brown | 5,305 | 0.2% |
| ||||
List of mayors
| Colour key (for political parties) |
|---|
| # | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Elected | Political party | Previous, concurrent and subsequent political offices | Education | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Ken Livingstone (born 1945) |
4 May 2000 | 4 May 2008[note 1] | 2000 | Independent | Councillor[note 2] (1973–1986) Leader of the Greater London Council (1981–1986) Member of Parliament for Brent East (1987–2001) |
| |
| 2004 | Labour | ||||||||
| 2 | 
|
Boris Johnson (born 1964) |
4 May 2008 | 9 May 2016 | 2008 | Conservative | Member of Parliament for Henley (2001–2008) Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (2015–2023) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (2016–2018) Leader of the Conservative Party (2019–2022) Prime Minister (2019–2022) |
||
| 2012 | |||||||||
| 3 | 
|
Sadiq Khan (born 1970) |
9 May 2016 [8] |
Incumbent | 2016 | Labour | Member of Parliament for Tooting (2005–2016) Minister of State for Transport (2009–2010) Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor (2010–2015) |
||
| 2021 | |||||||||
Timeline
- Timeline
Powers and functions
Most powers are derived from the Greater London Authority Act 1999, with additional functions coming from the Greater London Authority Act 2007, the Localism Act 2011 and Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
The mayor's main functions are:[9][10]
- Strategic planning, including housing, waste management, the environment and production of the London Plan
- Refuse or permit planning permission on strategic grounds
- Transport policy, delivered by functional body Transport for London
- Fire and emergency planning, delivered by functional body London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
- Policing and crime policy, delivered by functional body Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (before 2012 by functional body Metropolitan Police Authority). The Metropolitan Police has a structure different to most others across the country, reporting to the Mayor of London instead of a police and crime commissioner.
- Economic development, delivered directly by the Greater London Authority through subsidiary company GLA Land and Property (before 2012 by functional body London Development Agency)
- Power to create development corporations, such as the London Legacy Development Corporation
The remaining local government functions are performed by the London borough councils. There is some overlap; for example, the borough councils are responsible for waste management, but the mayor is required to produce a waste management strategy.[11] In 2010, Johnson launched an initiative in partnership with the Multi-academy Trust AET to transform schools across London. This led to the establishment of London Academies Enterprise Trust (LAET) which was intended to be a group of ten academies, but it only reached a group of four before the mayor withdrew it in 2013.
The following is a table comparing power over services of the boroughs to the GLA and mayor.
| Service | Greater London Authority | London borough councils |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 
| |
| Housing |
|
|
| Planning applications |
| |
| Strategic planning |
|
|
| Transport planning |
|
|
| Passenger transport |
|
|
| Highways |
|
|
| Police |
|
|
| Fire |
|
|
| Social services |
| |
| Libraries |
| |
| Leisure and recreation |
| |
| Waste collection |
| |
| Waste disposal |
| |
| Environmental health |
| |
| Revenue collection |
|
Initiatives
Ken Livingstone
Initiatives taken by Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London included the London congestion charge on private vehicles using city centre London on weekdays, the creation of the London Climate Change Agency, the London Energy Partnership and the founding of the international Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, now known as C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. The congestion charge led to many new buses being introduced across London. In August 2003, Livingstone oversaw the introduction of the Oyster card electronic ticketing system for Transport for London services.[12] Livingstone supported the withdrawal of the vintage AEC Routemaster buses from regular service in London.[13]
Livingstone introduced the London Partnerships Register which was a voluntary scheme without legal force for same sex couples to register their partnership, and paved the way for the introduction by the United Kingdom Parliament of civil partnerships and later still, Same-sex marriage. Unlike civil partnerships, the London Partnerships Register was open to heterosexual couples who favour a public commitment other than marriage.
As Mayor of London, Livingstone was a supporter of the London Olympics in 2012, ultimately winning the bid to host the Games in 2005. Livingstone encouraged sport in London; especially when sport could be combined with helping charities like The London Marathon and 10K charity races. Livingstone, in a mayoral election debate on the BBC's Question Time in April 2008, stated that the primary reason he supported the Olympic bid was to secure funding for the redevelopment of the East End of London. In July 2007, he brought the Tour de France cycle race to London.
Boris Johnson
In May 2008, Boris Johnson introduced a new transport safety initiative to put 440 high visibility police officers in and around bus stations.[14] A ban on alcohol on underground, and Docklands Light Railway, tram services and stations across the capital was introduced.[15]
Also in May 2008, he announced the closure of The Londoner newspaper, saving approximately £2.9 million. A percentage of this saving was to be spent on planting 10,000 new street trees.[16]
In 2010, he extended the coverage of Oyster card electronic ticketing to all National Rail overground train services.[17] Also in 2010, he opened a cycle hire scheme (originally sponsored by Barclays, now Santander) with 5,000 bicycles available for hire across London. Although initiated by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, the scheme rapidly acquired the nickname of "Boris Bikes". Johnson withdrew the recently introduced high-speed high-capacity "bendy buses" from service in 2011 which had been bought by Livingstone, and he instead supported the development of the New Routemaster[18] which entered service the next year.
In 2011, Boris Johnson set up the Outer London Fund of £50 million designed to help facilitate improve local high streets.[19] Areas in London were given the chance to submit proposals for two tranches of funding. Successful bids for Phase 1 included Enfield,[20] Muswell Hill[21] and Bexley town centre.[22] The recipients of phase 2 funding were still to be announced As of 2011[update].
In January 2013, he appointed journalist Andrew Gilligan as the first Cycling Commissioner for London.[23] In March 2013, Johnson announced £1 billion of investment in infrastructure to make cycling safer in London, including a 15-mile (24 km) East to West segregated 'Crossrail for bikes'.[24]
At the General Election of 7 May 2015, Johnson was elected MP for Uxbridge and Ruislip South,[25] He continued to serve as mayor until the mayoral election in May 2016, when Sadiq Khan was elected.
Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan introduced the 'bus hopper' fare on TfL buses, which allows passengers to board a second bus within one hour for the same fare.[26] Under Khan, paper, coin and cash transactions became obsolete. The Oyster system was expanded to include debit and credit cards. This initiative was started under his predecessor, Johnson.
Upon election, Khan outlined a vision to make London the "greenest city" by investing in walking and cycling infrastructure while reducing polluting vehicles.[27] In 2019, the "Ultra Low Emission Zone" scheme was launched which taxes highly polluting vehicles in its covered territory.[28] London declared itself the world's first "National Park City" (effective from July 2019),[29] reflecting its unusually high amount of green space for a city of its size.[30]
Extended term
The Government postponed all elections due in May 2020, including for the mayor of London, for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Khan had therefore served a term in office of five years rather than four, which ended in May 2021.[31] He was re-elected in 2021 for a shortened three-year term,[32] defeating the Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.[33][34]
See also
- Foreign relations of the Mayor of London
- Leaders of the Greater London Council
- Timeline of London § 21st century
Notes
- ^ The Adjudication Panel for England suspended Livingstone from the office of mayor for 4 weeks in February 2006, but this was overturned in October 2006.[6][7]
- ^ for Norwood (1973–1977); Hackney North and Stoke Newington (1977–1981); Paddington (1981–1986)
References
- ^ "Mayor of London". debretts.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Sadiq Khan - London City Hall". Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ "Former Mayors of London". London City Hall. 22 April 2016.
- ^ "London mayoral race 2021: The candidates standing in this year's election". BBC News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "London elections: Sadiq Khan wins second term as mayor". BBC News. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "Mayor is suspended over Nazi jibe". BBC News. 24 February 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Ken's suspension order thrown out". BBC News. 5 October 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Sadiq Khan Vows To Be 'Mayor For All Londoners'". Sky News. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
But because of the processes involved, he won't be technically in office until just after midnight on Monday.
- ^ Playing a strategic role in planning | Greater London Authority Archived 16 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. London.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ What can the Mayor of London actually do?. Full Fact (3 April 2012). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ The Mayor's Waste Management Strategies | Greater London Authority Archived 4 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. London.gov.uk (18 November 2011). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ James Rogers (19 August 2003). "London fare freeze to boost smartcard use". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- ^ Dwyer, Robyn (5 October 2013). "Ken Livingstone: too many people died on Routemasters". ITV News. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "GLA Press Release – New action on transport safety". Archived from the original on 28 May 2008.
- ^ "GLA Press Release – Plan to ban alcohol on the transport network". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
- ^ "GLA Press Release – Closure of The Londoner newspaper". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008.
- ^ "Oyster Oyster pay as you go on National Rail". Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.
- ^ "Bendy bus makes final journey for Transport for London". BBC News. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Outer London Fund". london.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011.
- ^ "Successful Outer London Bids". london.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012.
- ^ "Will Muswell Hill have a Town Square?". My Muswell. 23 December 2011.
- ^ Cleverly, James (5 August 2011). "Bexley Outer London Fund". jamescleverly.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011.
- ^ Andrew Gilligan appointed 'Cycling Czar' by mayor Johnson. BikeRadar (28 January 2013). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "'Crossrail for bikes' set for London". BBC News. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ "Uxbridge & Ruislip South". BBC News.
- ^ "Is Sadiq Khan's hopper fare encouraging Londoners onto the buses? | CityMetric". citymetric.com.
- ^ "Mayor sets out bold strategy to make London the greenest global city". London City Hall. 11 May 2018.
- ^ "World's first 24 hour Ultra Low Emission Zone starts in London". London City Hall. 8 April 2019.
- ^ Swan, Esan (28 November 2018). "How London will become a National Park City". video by Nabila Khouri and Stefanie Blendis. CNN.
- ^ Raven-Ellison, Daniel (27 May 2014). "Why Greater London should be made into an urban national park". The Guardian.
- ^ "Postponement of May 2020 elections" – via gov.uk.
- ^ "Coronavirus Act 2020". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ Savage, Michael; and agencies (8 May 2021). "Sadiq Khan reelected as London mayor for second term". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jamieson, Alastair (7 May 2021). "Sadiq Khan wins second term as London mayor". The Independent. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
External links
- Page about the process of nomination Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
This page was last edited on 21 April 2024, at 18:04