Mayor of London

Last updated

Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan 2020.png
Incumbent
Sadiq Khan
since 9 May 2016
Greater London Authority
Style No courtesy or style ascribed [1]
TypeCouncil Leader
StatusChief executive officer
Member of
Reports to London Assembly
Seat City Hall, London
AppointerElectorate 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

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]

Contents

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.

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 will now be elected by the first-past-the-post system for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May 2024. 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
PartyCandidate1st round2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
TotalOf roundTransfersTotalOf round
Labour Sadiq Khan 1,013,72140.0%192,3131,206,03455.2%
Conservative Shaun Bailey 893,05135.3%84,550977,60144.8%
Green Siân Berry 197,9767.8%
Liberal Democrats Luisa Porritt 111,7164.4%
Independent Niko Omilana49,6282.0%
Reclaim Laurence Fox 47,6341.9%
London Real Brian Rose 31,1111.2%
Rejoin EURichard Hewison28,0121.1%
Count Binface Count Binface 24,7751.0%
Women's Equality Mandu Reid 21,1820.8%
Let London Live Piers Corbyn 20,6040.8%
Animal Welfare Vanessa Hudson 16,8260.7%
UKIP Peter Gammons14,3930.6%
Independent Farah London11,8690.5%
Heritage David Kurten 11,0250.4%
Independent Nims Obunge9,6820.4%
SDP Steve Kelleher8,7640.3%
Renew Kam Balayev7,7740.3%
Independent Max Fosh6,3090.2%
Burning Pink Valerie Brown5,3050.2%

List of mayors

Colour key
(for political parties)
   Labour
#PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of officeElectedPolitical partyPrevious, concurrent and subsequent political officesEducation
1 Ken Livingstone.jpg Ken Livingstone
(born 1945)
4 May 20004 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 (cropped).jpg Boris Johnson
(born 1964)
4 May 20089 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 November 2016.jpg
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
Sadiq KhanBoris JohnsonKen LivingstoneMayor of London

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]

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.

ServiceGreater London AuthorityLondon borough councils
EducationYes check.svgY
HousingYes check.svgYYes check.svgY
Planning applicationsYes check.svgY
Strategic planningYes check.svgYYes check.svgY
Transport planningYes check.svgYYes check.svgY
Passenger transportYes check.svgY
HighwaysYes check.svgYYes check.svgY
PoliceYes check.svgY
FireYes check.svgY
Social servicesYes check.svgY
LibrariesYes check.svgY
Leisure and recreationYes check.svgY
Waste collectionYes check.svgY
Waste disposalYes check.svgY
Environmental healthYes check.svgY
Revenue collectionYes check.svgY

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.

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 and coin cash transactions became obsolete and 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

Notes

  1. 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]
  2. for Norwood (1973–1977); Hackney North and Stoke Newington (1977–1981); Paddington (1981–1986)

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