Mayor of London

The mayor's office is at City Hall, overlooking the River Thames near Tower Bridge

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London (see Greater London Authority). Since 4 May 2008, Conservative Boris Johnson holds the position. Previously, the position was held by Ken Livingstone from the creation of the role on 4 May 2000, until his succession by Johnson.

The role, created in 2000 after the London devolution referendum, was the first directly-elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The Mayor of London is also referred to as the London Mayor, a form which helps to avoid confusion with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the ancient and now mainly ceremonial role in the geographically small City of London. The Mayor of London is mayor of Greater London which has a population of over 7.5 million.

Elections

Main article: London mayoral elections

The Mayor of London is elected by Supplementary Vote for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May. As with most elected posts in the UK, there is a deposit, in this case of £10,000, returnable on the candidate's winning at least 5% of the first-choice votes cast.

2000

Main article: London mayoral election, 2000

The 2000 campaign was incident-filled. The eventual winner, Ken Livingstone, went back on an earlier pledge not to run as an independent after losing the Labour nomination to Frank Dobson.

The Conservative Party had to replace Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare as their candidate when he was charged with perjury; Steve Norris was elected as his replacement.

2004

Main article: London mayoral election, 2004

In 2004, the second election was held. After being re-admitted to the Labour Party, Ken Livingstone was their official candidate. He won re-election after second preference votes were counted, with Steve Norris again coming second.

2008

Main article: London mayoral election, 2008

¹Second preference votes are only used to elect the mayor if no single candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. Only the top two candidates receive the second preference votes.

²On papers where the 1st and 2nd choice votes are for the top two candidates, the 2nd choice votes are not counted.^[1]

³Percentage figures are not officially published on the final votes, they are produced here for illustration and are calculated by dividing the candidate's final vote by the total of final votes. When based on the total votes cast, however, the figures are 48.4% and 42.6%.

⁴Matt O'Connor withdrew from the election in the week prior to polling day but his name remained on the ballot paper.^[2]

List of Mayors

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	Ken Livingstone		4 May 2000	4 May 2008	Independent 2000–2004
					Labour 2004–2008
	Boris Johnson		4 May 2008	Incumbent	Conservative

Initiatives

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.

They have also included 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. Unlike civil partnerships, the London Partnerships Register was open to heterosexual couples who favour a public commitment other than marriage.

As Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone was also a key player and supporter of the London Olympics in 2012, and is known to always encourage sport in London; especially when sport can be combined with helping UK charities-like The London Marathon and British 10K charity races. In the summer of 2007 he brought the World famous Tour de France cycle race to London.

In May 2008, Boris Johnson introduced a new transport safety initiative to put 440 high-visibility police officers on bus hubs and the immediate vicinity.^[3] A ban on alcohol on Tube, bus, Docklands Light Railway, and tram services and stations across the capital was announced.^[4]

Also in May 2008, Boris Johnson announced the closure of The Londoner newspaper, saving approximately £2.9 million. A percentage of this saving will be spent on planting 10,000 new street trees.^[5]

Salary

The Mayor of London's salary is one that ranks alongside that of a government Cabinet minister's. The current salary is £137,579 per year.^[6]

See also

• Deputy Mayor of London
• Foreign relations of the Mayor of London
• Lord Mayor of the City of London

References

1. ↑ Results: Mayor London Elects
2. ↑ O'Connor pulls out of mayor race BBC
3. ↑ GLA Press Release - New action on transport safety
4. ↑ GLA Press Release - Plan to ban alcohol on the transport network
5. ↑ GLA Press Release - Closure of The Londoner newspaper
6. ↑ Greater London Authority - Annual Budget

External links

• Mayor of London website
• Page about the process of nomination

City of London · Greater London · London Strategic Mayor of London · Greater London Authority · London Assembly Administrative Barking and Dagenham · Barnet · Bexley · Brent · Bromley · Camden · City of London* · Croydon · Ealing · Enfield · Greenwich · Hackney · Hammersmith and Fulham · Haringey · Harrow · Havering · Hillingdon · Hounslow · Islington · Kensington and Chelsea · Kingston · Lambeth · Lewisham · Merton · Newham · Redbridge · Richmond · Southwark · Sutton · Tower Hamlets · Waltham Forest · Wandsworth · Westminster Historical Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) 1855–1889 · London County Council (LCC) 1889–1965 · Greater London Council (GLC) 1965–1986 Ceremonial Lord Mayor of London * not a London Borough