This article is about the directly elected mayor of Greater London.
For the City of London mayor, see
Lord Mayor of London.
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. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008. The position was previously 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 the mayor of the entirety of Greater London, including the City of London, for which there is also the ceremonial Lord Mayor of the City of London. Each London Borough also has a ceremonial mayor or, in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham or Tower Hamlets, an elected mayor.
Background
The Greater London Council, the elected governance for Greater London, was abolished in 1986 following the Local Government Act 1985. Strategic functions were split off to various joint arrangements. Londoners voted in a referendum in 1998 to create new governance structures 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 supplementary vote method 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
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.
| Mayor of London election 4 May 2000 [2] |
| Party |
Candidate |
1st Round |
% |
2nd Round |
Total |
First Round Votes Transfer Votes
|
| |
Independent |
Ken Livingstone |
667,877 |
39.0% |
108,540 |
776,417 |
|
| |
Conservative |
Steven Norris |
464,434 |
27.1% |
99,703 |
564,137 |
|
| |
Labour |
Frank Dobson |
223,884 |
13.1% |
|
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrat |
Susan Kramer |
203,452 |
11.9% |
|
|
|
| |
Christian Peoples |
Ram Gidoomal |
43,060 |
2.4% |
|
|
|
| |
Green |
Darren Johnson |
38,121 |
2.2% |
|
|
|
| |
BNP |
Michael Newland |
33,569 |
2.0% |
|
|
|
| |
UKIP |
Damian Hockney |
16,324 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
| style="background-color: #E9E9E9"; width: 2px;" | |
Pro-Motorist Small Shop |
Geoffrey Ben-Nathan |
9,956 |
0.6% |
|
|
|
| style="background-color: #E9E9E9"; width: 2px;" | |
Independent |
Ashwin Tanna |
9,015 |
0.5% |
|
|
|
| |
Natural Law |
Geoffrey Clements |
5,470 |
0.3% |
|
|
|
| |
Independent win |
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.
| Mayor of London election 10 June 2004 [3] |
| Party |
Candidate |
1st Round |
% |
2nd Round |
Total |
First Round Votes Transfer Votes
|
| |
Labour |
Ken Livingstone |
685,548 |
36.8% |
142,842 |
828,390 |
|
| |
Conservative |
Steven Norris |
542,423 |
29.1% |
124,757 |
667,180 |
|
| |
Liberal Democrat |
Simon Hughes |
284,647 |
15.3% |
|
|
|
| |
UKIP |
Frank Maloney |
115,666 |
6.2% |
|
|
|
| |
Respect |
Lindsey German |
61,731 |
3.3% |
|
|
|
| |
BNP |
Julian Leppert |
58,407 |
3.1% |
|
|
|
| |
Green |
Darren Johnson |
57,332 |
3.1% |
|
|
|
| |
Christian Peoples |
Ram Gidoomal |
31,698 |
2.2% |
|
|
|
| |
Independent Working Class |
Lorna Reid |
9,452 |
0.5% |
|
|
|
| |
Independent |
Tammy Nagalingam |
6,692 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
|
Labour gain from Independent |
2008
The incumbent Labour Mayor, Ken Livingstone was defeated by Conservative candidate Boris Johnson who became London's 2nd Mayor.
| Mayor of London election 1 May 2008 [4] |
| Party |
Candidate |
1st Round |
% |
2nd Round |
Total |
First Round Votes Transfer Votes
|
| |
Conservative |
Boris Johnson |
1,043,761 |
43.2% |
124,977 |
1,168,738 |
|
| |
Labour |
Ken Livingstone |
893,887 |
37.0% |
134,089 |
1,027,976 |
|
| |
Liberal Democrat |
Brian Paddick |
235,585 |
9.8% |
|
|
|
| |
Green |
Siân Berry |
77,347 |
3.2% |
|
|
|
| |
BNP |
Richard Barnbrook |
69,710 |
3.2% |
|
|
|
| |
Christian Peoples |
Alan Craig |
39,249 |
1.6% |
|
|
|
| |
UKIP |
Gerard Batten |
22,422 |
1.2% |
|
|
|
| |
Respect |
Lindsey German |
16,796 |
0.7% |
|
|
|
| |
English Democrats |
Matt O'Connor |
10,695 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
| |
Independent |
Winston McKenzie |
5,389 |
0.2% |
|
|
|
|
Conservative gain from Labour |
2012
Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson was reelected to a second term in office, defeating former Labour mayor Ken Livingstone. Livingstone announced his retirement from politics in his concession speech.
| Mayor of London election 3 May 2012 [5] |
| Party |
Candidate |
1st Round |
% |
2nd Round |
Total |
First Round Votes Transfer Votes
|
| |
Conservative |
Boris Johnson |
971,931 |
44.0% |
82,880 |
1,054,811 |
|
| |
Labour |
Ken Livingstone |
889,918 |
40.3% |
102,355 |
992,273 |
|
| |
Green |
Jenny Jones |
98,913 |
4.5% |
|
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrat |
Brian Paddick |
91,774 |
4.2% |
|
|
|
| |
Independent |
Siobhan Benita |
83,914 |
3.8% |
|
|
|
| |
UKIP |
Lawrence Webb |
43,274 |
2.0% |
|
|
|
| |
BNP |
Carlos Cortiglia |
28,751 |
1.3% |
|
|
|
| |
Conservative hold |
2016
The 2016 London mayoral election is scheduled for 5 May 2016.[6]
Incumbent Mayor Boris Johnson is not running for re-election for a third term in office; he is instead the prospective candidate for the Conservative Party in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the 2015 general election.
List of Mayors
Colour key
(for political parties) |
|---|
|
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 main functions are:[7][8]
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.[9]
| 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 |
| 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 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 2003 Livingstone oversaw the introduction of the Oyster Card electronic ticketing system for Transport for London services.[10]
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 supporter of the London Olympics in 2012, and is known to encourage sport in London; especially when sport can be combined with helping UK charities-like The London Marathon and British 10K charity races. However, Livingstone, in a Mayoral election debate on the BBC's Question Time in April 2008 did state that the primary reason he supported the Olympic bid was to secure funding for the redevelopment of the East End of London. In the summer of 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 on bus hubs and the immediate vicinity.[11] A ban on alcohol on underground, bus, Docklands Light Railway, and tram services and stations across the capital was announced.[12]
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.[13]
In 2010 Boris Johnson extended the coverage of Oyster Card electronic ticketing to all National Rail overground train services [14]
Also in 2010 Boris Johnson opened the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme with 5,000 bicycles available for hire across London. Although it should be noted that the plans for this were created under Ken Livingstone's administration.
In 2011 Boris Johnson set up the Outer London Fund, a money pot of up to £50 million designed to help facilitate better, more effective local high streets.[15] Areas in London were given the chance to submit proposals for two separate pots of money, which would be granted to them if their bid was successful. Successful bids for Phase 1 included Enfield,[16] Muswell Hill [17] and Bexley Town Centre.[18] The recipients of Phase 2 funding are still to be announced.
In January 2013 Boris Johnson appointed journalist Andrew Gilligan as the first Cycling Commissioner for London.[19]
In March 2013 Boris Johnson announced £1 billion of investment in infrastructure to make cycling safer in London, including a 15-mile (24 km) East-West segregated 'Crossrail for bikes'.[20]
Salary
The Mayor of London's salary is £143,911 per year, which is similar to that of a government Cabinet minister.[21]
See also
References
External links
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