Wikipedia

Mayor of London

This article is about the directly elected mayor of Greater London. For the City of London mayor, seeLord Mayor of London.For the mayors of London, Ontario, seeList of mayors of London, Ontario.

Themayor of Londonis the chief executive of theGreater London Authority.The role was created in 2000 after theGreater London devolution referendumin 1998, and was the firstdirectly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.[2]

Mayor of London
Incumbent
Sadiq Khan
since 9 May 2016
Greater London Authority
TypeCouncil Leader
StatusChief executive officer
Member of
Reports toLondon Assembly
SeatCity Hall,London
AppointerElectorate ofLondon
Term lengthFour years, renewable
Constituting instrumentGreater London Authority Act 1999,s 2(1)(a)
Inaugural holderKen Livingstone
DeputyStatutory Deputy Mayor of London
Salary£152,734[1]
Websitelondon.gov.uk/mayor

The current mayor isSadiq Khan,who took office on 9 May 2016. The position was held byKen Livingstonefrom the creation of the role on 4 May 2000 until he was defeated in May 2008 byBoris Johnson,who then also served two terms before being succeeded by Khan.

The mayor is scrutinised by theLondon Assemblyand, supported by theirMayoral Cabinet,directs the entirety of London, including theCity of London(for which there is also theLord Mayor of the City of London). Each of the 32London Boroughsalso has a ceremonial mayor or,in Croydon,Hackney,Lewisham,NewhamandTower Hamlets,an elected mayor.

Background

TheGreater London Council,the elected government for Greater London, was abolished in 1986 by theLocal Government Act 1985.Strategic functions were split off to various joint arrangements. Londoners voted ina referendum in 1998to create a new governance structure for Greater London. The directly elected mayor of London was created by theGreater London Authority Act 1999in 2000 as part of the reforms.

Elections

Main article:London mayoral elections

The mayor is elected by thefirst-past-the-postsystem for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May. Prior to theElections Act 2022,thesupplementary votemethod 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

Main article:2024 London mayoral election

The most recent London mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024.[3]The results of the election were announced on 4 May 2024.[4]Sadiq Khan was re-elected as mayor and became the first to be elected for 3 terms, beating the ConservativeSusan Hall.

List of mayors

Colour key
(for political parties)
Independent
Labour
Conservative
# 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
2004 		Independent
Labour 		Councillor[note 2](1973–1986)
Leader of theGreater London Council(1981–1986)
Member of Parliament forBrent East(1987–2001)
8 years, 0 days
2 Boris Johnson
(born 1964) 		4 May 2008 9 May 2016 2008
2012 		Conservative Member of Parliament forHenley(2001–2008)
Member of Parliament forUxbridge 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)
8 years, 5 days
3
Sadiq Khan
(born 1970) 		9 May 2016[7] Incumbent 2016
2021
2024 		Labour Member of Parliament forTooting(2005–2016)
Minister of State for Transport(2009–2010)
Shadow Secretary of State for JusticeandShadow Lord Chancellor(2010–2015)
8 years, 283 days

Timeline

Timeline
Sadiq KhanBoris JohnsonKen Livingstone

Powers and functions

Most powers are derived from theGreater London Authority Act 1999,with additional functions coming from theGreater London Authority Act 2007,theLocalism Act 2011andPolice Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

The mayor's main functions are:[8][9]

The remaining local government functions are performed by theLondon 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.[10]In 2010, Johnson launched an initiative in partnership with the Multi-academy TrustAETto transform schools across London. This led to the establishment ofLondon 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 mayor is a member of theMayoral Council for Englandand theCouncil of the Nations and Regions.

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 Y
Housing Y Y
Planning applications Y
Strategic planning Y Y
Transport planning Y Y
Passenger transport Y
Highways Y Y
Police Y
Fire Y
Social services Y
Libraries Y
Leisure and recreation Y
Waste collection Y
Waste disposal Y
Environmental health Y
Revenue collection Y

Initiatives

Ken Livingstone

Initiatives taken byKen Livingstoneas Mayor of London included theLondon congestion chargeon private vehicles using city centre London on weekdays, the creation of theLondon Climate Change Agency,the London Energy Partnership and the founding of the internationalLarge Cities Climate Leadership Group,now known asC40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.The congestion charge led to many new buses being introduced across London. In August 2003, Livingstone oversaw the introduction of theOyster cardelectronic ticketing system forTransport for Londonservices.[11]Livingstone supported the withdrawal of the vintageAEC Routemasterbuses from regular service in London.[12]

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 ofcivil partnershipsand 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 theLondon 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 theBBC'sQuestion Timein April 2008, stated that the primary reason he supported the Olympic bid was to secure funding for the redevelopment of theEast End of London.In July 2007, he brought theTour de Francecycle race to London.

Boris Johnson

In May 2008,Boris Johnsonintroduced a new transport safety initiative to put 440 high visibility police officers in and around bus stations.[13]A ban on alcohol on underground, and Docklands Light Railway, tram services and stations across the capital was introduced.[14]

Also in May 2008, he announced the closure ofThe Londonernewspaper, saving approximately £2.9 million. A percentage of this saving was to be spent on planting 10,000 new street trees.[15]

In 2010, he extended the coverage ofOyster cardelectronic ticketing to all National Rail overground train services.[16]Also in 2010, he opened acycle hire scheme(originally sponsored byBarclays,nowSantander) 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 theNew Routemaster[17]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.[18]Areas in London were given the chance to submit proposals for two tranches of funding. Successful bids for Phase 1 included Enfield,[19]Muswell Hill[20]and Bexley town centre.[21]The recipients of phase 2 funding were still to be announced As of 2011.

In January 2013, he appointed journalistAndrew Gilliganas the first Cycling Commissioner for London.[22]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'.[23]

At theGeneral Electionof 7 May 2015, Johnson was elected MP forUxbridge and South Ruislip,[24]He continued to serve as mayor until the mayoral election in May 2016, whenSadiq Khanwas elected.

Sadiq Khan

Sadiq Khanintroduced the 'bus hopper' fare onTfLbuses, which allows passengers to board a second bus within one hour for the same fare.[25]Under Khan, paper, coin and cash transactions became obsolete. TheOystersystem was expanded to include debit and credit cards. This initiative was started under his predecessor, Johnson.[26]

Upon election, Khan outlined a vision to make London the "greenest city" by investing in walking andcycling infrastructurewhile 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic.Khan had therefore served a term in office of five years rather than four, which ended inMay 2021.[31]He was re-elected in 2021 for a shortened three-year term,[32]defeating the Conservative candidateShaun Bailey.[33][34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^TheAdjudication Panel for Englandsuspended Livingstone from the office of mayor for 4 weeks in February 2006, but this was overturned in October 2006.[5][6]
  2. ^for Norwood (1973–1977); Hackney North and Stoke Newington (1977–1981); Paddington (1981–1986)

References

  1. ^"Sadiq Khan - London City Hall".Retrieved10 December2022.
  2. ^"Former Mayors of London".London City Hall.22 April 2016.
  3. ^"London mayoral election 2024: The candidates standing to be mayor".BBC News.22 May 2023.
  4. ^Cecil, Nicholas (3 May 2024)."London mayoral election: Why will the result not be announced today?".Evening Standard.Retrieved3 May2024.
  5. ^"Mayor is suspended over Nazi jibe".BBC News.24 February 2006.Retrieved7 April2022.
  6. ^"Ken's suspension order thrown out".BBC News.5 October 2006.Retrieved7 April2022.
  7. ^"Sadiq Khan Vows To Be 'Mayor For All Londoners'".Sky News. 7 May 2016.Retrieved9 May2016.But because of the processes involved, he won't be technically in office until just after midnight on Monday.
  8. ^Playing a strategic role in planning | Greater London AuthorityArchived16 October 2013 at theWayback Machine.London.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  9. ^What can the Mayor of London actually do?.Full Fact (3 April 2012). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  10. ^The Mayor's Waste Management Strategies | Greater London AuthorityArchived4 November 2013 at theWayback Machine.London.gov.uk (18 November 2011). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  11. ^James Rogers (19 August 2003)."London fare freeze to boost smartcard use".Computer Weekly.Retrieved19 September2014.
  12. ^Dwyer, Robyn (5 October 2013)."Ken Livingstone: too many people died on Routemasters".ITV News.Retrieved15 February2023.
  13. ^"GLA Press Release – New action on transport safety".Archived fromthe originalon 28 May 2008.
  14. ^"GLA Press Release – Plan to ban alcohol on the transport network".Archived fromthe originalon 13 May 2008.
  15. ^"GLA Press Release – Closure of The Londoner newspaper".Archived fromthe originalon 17 May 2008.
  16. ^"Oyster Oyster pay as you go on National Rail".Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2012.
  17. ^"Bendy bus makes final journey for Transport for London".BBC News.10 December 2011.Retrieved15 February2023.
  18. ^"Outer London Fund".london.gov.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 24 December 2011.
  19. ^"Successful Outer London Bids".london.gov.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 30 January 2012.
  20. ^"Will Muswell Hill have a Town Square?".My Muswell.23 December 2011.
  21. ^Cleverly, James(5 August 2011)."Bexley Outer London Fund".jamescleverly.blogspot.Archived fromthe originalon 25 September 2011.
  22. ^Andrew Gilligan appointed 'Cycling Czar' by mayor Johnson.BikeRadar (28 January 2013). Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  23. ^"'Crossrail for bikes' set for London ".BBC News.7 March 2013.Retrieved6 April2016.
  24. ^"Uxbridge & South Ruislip".BBC News.
  25. ^"Is Sadiq Khan's hopper fare encouraging Londoners onto the buses? | CityMetric".citymetric.
  26. ^Trenholm, Richard (16 September 2014)."Contactless credit and debit cards can now be used on London tube".CNET.
  27. ^"Mayor sets out bold strategy to make London the greenest global city".London City Hall.11 May 2018.
  28. ^"World's first 24 hour Ultra Low Emission Zone starts in London".London City Hall.8 April 2019.
  29. ^Swan, Esan (28 November 2018)."How London will become a National Park City".video by Nabila Khouri and Stefanie Blendis. CNN.
  30. ^Raven-Ellison, Daniel (27 May 2014)."Why Greater London should be made into an urban national park".The Guardian.
  31. ^"Postponement of May 2020 elections"– via gov.uk.
  32. ^"Coronavirus Act 2020".Legislation.gov.uk.Retrieved20 June2023.
  33. ^Savage, Michael; and agencies (8 May 2021)."Sadiq Khan reelected as London mayor for second term".The Guardian.Retrieved8 May2021.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^Jamieson, Alastair (7 May 2021)."Sadiq Khan wins second term as London mayor".The Independent.Retrieved7 May2021.
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