| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Are you in favour of the Government's proposals for a Greater London Authority, made up of an elected mayor and a separately elected assembly? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Results by borough |
The Greater London Authority referendum of 1998 was a referendum held in Greater London on 7 May 1998, asking whether there was support for the creation of a Greater London Authority, composed of a directly elected Mayor of London and a London Assembly to scrutinise the Mayor's actions. Voter turnout was low, at just 34.1%. [1] The referendum was held under the provisions of the Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998.
The question that appeared on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate was:
Are you in favour of the Government's proposals for a Greater London Authority, made up of an elected mayor and a separately elected assembly?
permitting a simple YES / NO answer.
Greater London Authority referendum, 1998 Result | |||
Choice | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Yes | 1,230,739 | 72.01% | |
No | 478,413 | 27.99% | |
Valid votes | 1,709,172 | 98.49% | |
Invalid or blank votes | 26,178 | 1.51% | |
Total votes | 1,735,350 | 100.00% | |
Registered voters and turnout | 5,016,064 | 34.60% | |
Referendum results (excluding invalid votes) | |
---|---|
Yes 1,230,759 (72%) | No 478,413 (28%) |
▲ 50% |
Local authority | Votes | Proportion of votes | Turnout* | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agree | Disagree | Agree | Disagree | ||
City of London | 977 | 574 | 63.0 | 37.0 | 30.6 |
Barking and Dagenham | 20,534 | 7,406 | 73.5 | 26.5 | 24.9 |
Barnet | 55,487 | 24,210 | 69.6 | 30.4 | 35.3 |
Bexley | 36,527 | 21,195 | 63.3 | 36.7 | 34.7 |
Brent | 47,309 | 13,050 | 78.4 | 21.6 | 35.6 |
Bromley | 51,410 | 38,662 | 57.1 | 42.9 | 40.2 |
Camden | 36,007 | 8,348 | 81.2 | 18.8 | 32.8 |
Croydon | 53,863 | 29,368 | 64.7 | 35.3 | 37.2 |
Ealing | 52,348 | 16,092 | 76.5 | 23.5 | 37.8 |
Enfield | 44,297 | 21,639 | 67.2 | 32.8 | 32.8 |
Greenwich | 36,756 | 12,356 | 74.8 | 25.2 | 32.4 |
Hackney | 31,956 | 7,195 | 81.6 | 18.4 | 33.8 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 29,171 | 8,255 | 77.9 | 22.1 | 33.6 |
Haringey | 36,296 | 7,038 | 83.8 | 16.2 | 29.9 |
Harrow | 38,412 | 17,407 | 68.8 | 31.2 | 36.0 |
Havering | 36,390 | 23,788 | 60.5 | 39.5 | 33.8 |
Hillingdon | 38,518 | 22,523 | 63.1 | 36.9 | 34.4 |
Hounslow | 36,957 | 12,554 | 74.6 | 25.4 | 31.9 |
Islington | 32,826 | 7,428 | 81.6 | 18.5 | 34.2 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 20,064 | 8,469 | 70.3 | 29.7 | 27.9 |
Kingston upon Thames | 28,621 | 13,043 | 68.7 | 31.3 | 41.1 |
Lambeth | 47,391 | 10,544 | 81.8 | 18.2 | 31.7 |
Lewisham | 40,188 | 11,060 | 78.4 | 21.6 | 29.3 |
Merton | 35,418 | 13,635 | 72.2 | 27.8 | 37.6 |
Newham | 33,084 | 7,575 | 81.4 | 18.6 | 27.9 |
Redbridge | 42,547 | 18,098 | 70.2 | 29.8 | 34.9 |
Richmond upon Thames | 39,115 | 16,135 | 70.8 | 29.2 | 44.5 |
Southwark | 42,196 | 10,089 | 80.7 | 19.3 | 32.7 |
Sutton | 29,653 | 16,091 | 64.8 | 35.2 | 34.9 |
Tower Hamlets | 32,630 | 9,467 | 77.5 | 22.5 | 34.2 |
Waltham Forest | 38,344 | 14,090 | 73.1 | 26.9 | 33.6 |
Wandsworth | 57,010 | 19,695 | 74.3 | 25.7 | 38.7 |
Westminster | 28,413 | 11,334 | 71.5 | 28.5 | 31.8 |
Totals | 1,230,759 | 478,413 | 72.01 | 27.99 | 34.1% |
Source: The Independent |
The 'Yes' vote won in every London Borough, though support generally was larger in Inner London than in Outer London. The lowest support figures were 60.5% in Havering and 57.1% in Bromley; the greatest were 83.8% in Haringey and 81.8% in Lambeth. Income level of boroughs was even a greater factor affecting the outcome.
The government passed the Greater London Authority Act 1999, creating the Greater London Authority. Elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly were held in May 2000.
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.
The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty and the 25-member London Assembly, which serves as a means of checks and balances on the former. Since May 2016, both branches have been under the control of the London Labour Party. The authority was established in 2000, following a local referendum, and derives most of its powers from the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the Greater London Authority Act 2007.
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs and other entities. A new administrative body, known as the Greater London Authority (GLA), was established in 2000.
Politics of England forms the major part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with England being more populous than all the other countries of the United Kingdom put together. As England is also by far the largest in terms of area and GDP, its relationship to the UK is somewhat different from that of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The English capital London is also the capital of the UK, and English is the dominant language of the UK. Dicey and Morris (p26) list the separate states in the British Islands. "England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark.... is a separate country in the sense of the conflict of laws, though not one of them is a State known to public international law." But this may be varied by statute.
Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. There is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue; the UK Parliament is free to legislate through an Act of Parliament for a national plebiscite to be held on any question at any time, but these cannot be constitutionally binding on either the Government or Parliament, although they usually have a persuasive political effect.
The regional chambers of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies that were created by the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. There were eight regional chambers, one for each of the regions of England except Greater London, which had opted for an elected mayor and assembly in 1998. All eight regional chambers had adopted the title "regional assembly" or "assembly" as part of their name, though this was not an official status in law. The chambers were abolished over a two-year period between 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2010 and some of their functions were assumed by newly established Local authority leaders' boards.
The North East England devolution referendum was an all postal ballot referendum that took place on 4 November 2004 throughout North East England on whether or not to establish an elected assembly for the region. Devolution referendums in the regions of Northern England were initially proposed under provisions of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003. Initially, three referendums were planned, but only one took place. The votes concerned the question of devolving limited political powers from the UK Parliament to elected regional assemblies in North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber respectively. Each were initially planned to be held on 4 November 2004, but on 22 July 2004 the planned referendums in North West England and in Yorkshire and the Humber were postponed, due to concerns raised about the use of postal ballots, but the referendum in North East England was allowed to continue, particularly as it was assumed that the region held the most support for the proposed devolution.
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Directly elected mayors in England and Wales, informally known as Metro Mayors, are local government executive leaders who are directly elected by the residents of a local authority area. Examples of metro mayors include the mayor of London, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and the mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
The Greater London Authority Act 1999 is the Act of Parliament that established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London.
Peterborough City Council is the local authority for Peterborough in the East of England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The City was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1874; from 1888, it fell within the jurisdiction of the Soke of Peterborough county council and from 1965, Huntingdon and Peterborough county council. In 1974, it was replaced by a wholly new non-metropolitan district, broadly corresponding to the Soke, in the new enlarged Cambridgeshire. In 1998, Peterborough became independent of Cambridgeshire as a unitary authority, but the city continues to form part of that county for ceremonial purposes as defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997.
Lewisham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham, in London, United Kingdom. Elections are held every four years using a plurality bloc vote electoral system for the councillors and the supplementary vote electoral system for the elected mayor.
The Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which made legal provision for the holding of a non-binding referendum in Greater London on whether there should be a democratically elected Assembly for London and a separately elected Mayor for London.
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, currently Lutfur Rahman.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
A series of mayoral referendums were held on 3 May 2012 in England's 11 largest cities to determine whether to introduce directly elected mayors to provide political leadership, replacing their current council leaders, who are elected by the local council.
Local elections in England and Wales were held on 6 May 2021 for more than 145 English local councils for around 5,000 seats, thirteen directly elected mayors in England, and 39 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. There were also elections to the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and London Assembly, the last in conjunction with the London mayoral election. Also on the same day as these local elections, there was a UK Parliament by-election for the constituency of Hartlepool.
The 2022 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 51 members of Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
In the 2022 Croydon London Borough Council election, on 5 May 2022, all 70 members of Croydon London Borough Council, and the Mayor of Croydon, were up for election. The elections took place alongside the local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom. Jason Perry of the Conservative Party narrowly won the mayoral election.
The 2022 Newham London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 66 members of Newham London Borough Council were elected. The election took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.