London Assembly

London Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Leader of the Majority
Leader of the Opposition
Structure
Seats 25 members
Political groups
Committees
  • Audit
  • Budget and Performance
  • Budget Monitoring
  • Confirmation Hearings
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Environment
  • GLA Oversight
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Planning
  • Police and Crime
  • Regeneration
  • Transport
Elections
Additional Member System
Last election
5 May 2016
Meeting place
City Hall
Southwark, Greater London, United Kingdom
Website
www.london.gov.uk

The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject the Mayor's draft statutory strategies.[2] The assembly was established in 2000 and meets at City Hall on the south bank of the River Thames, close to Tower Bridge. The assembly is also able to investigate other issues of importance to Londoners (transport, environmental matters, etc.), publish its findings and recommendations, and make proposals to the Mayor.

Assembly members

The assembly comprises 25 members elected using the Additional Member System of proportional representation. Elections take place every four years – at the same time as for the Mayor. There are 14 constituencies each electing one member, with a further 11 members elected from a party list to make the total members from each party proportional to the votes cast for that party across the whole of London using a modified D'Hondt allocation.[3] A party must win at least 5% of the party list vote in order to win any seats. Members of the assembly have the post-nominal title 'AM'. The annual salary for a London Assembly member is approximately £55,000.[4]

Since its creation in 2000, twelve assembly members have subsequently been elected to the House of Commons: David Lammy, Meg Hillier and Diana Johnson for Labour; Andrew Pelling, Bob Neill, Angie Bray, Bob Blackman, Eric Ollerenshaw, Victoria Borwick, James Cleverly and Kit Malthouse for the Conservatives; and Lynne Featherstone for the Liberal Democrats. One assembly member, Jenny Jones, was appointed to the House of Lords as the first life peer for the Green Party, and sat in the assembly until May 2016. Sally Hamwee, Graham Tope and Toby Harris were life peers elected to the assembly, while Lynne Featherstone and Dee Doocey were appointed peers after leaving the assembly. In addition, Val Shawcross, Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark was selected, but unsuccessful, as the Labour parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark at the 2010 general election. Andrew Dismore, Graham Tope, and Richard Tracey are all former MPs who were later elected to the assembly. One assembly member – John Biggs, former AM for City and East – became the directly-elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets in 2015. He is currently serving as the Mayor.

Structure of the assembly

London Assembly elections have been held under the Additional Member System. With a set number of constituencies elected on a first-past-the-post system and a set number London-wide on a closed party list system.

in December 2016 an Electoral Reform Bill, was introduced which would have changed the election system to first-past-the-post. [5] At the 2017 UK General Election, the Conservative Party manifesto proposed changes to how the assembly is elected, to first-past-the-post.[6]

Political party Assembly members
2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Labour 9 7 8 12 12
12 / 25
Conservative 9 9 11 9 8
8 / 25
Green 3 2 2 2 2
2 / 25
UKIP 2 2
2 / 25
Liberal Democrat 4 5 3 2 1
1 / 25
British National Party 1
0 / 25

List of assembly members

Constituency Member Political party
Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore Labour Co-operative
Bexley and Bromley Gareth Bacon Conservative
Brent and Harrow Navin Shah Labour
City and East Unmesh Desai Labour
Croydon and Sutton Stephen O'Connell Conservative
Ealing and Hillingdon Onkar Sahota Labour
Enfield and Haringey Joanne McCartney Labour Co-operative
Greenwich and Lewisham Len Duvall Labour Co-operative
Havering and Redbridge Keith Prince Conservative
Lambeth and Southwark Florence Eshalomi Labour Co-operative
Merton and Wandsworth Leonie Cooper Labour Co-operative
North East Jennette Arnold Labour Co-operative
South West Tony Arbour Conservative
West Central Tony Devenish Conservative
Additional Members
London-wide
Nicky Gavron Labour Co-operative
Fiona Twycross Labour
Tom Copley Labour
Andrew Boff Conservative
Susan Hall Conservative
Shaun Bailey Conservative
Siân Berry Green
Caroline Russell Green
Peter Whittle UKIP
David Kurten UKIP
Caroline Pidgeon Liberal Democrat
Composition of London Assembly, 2000 – 2016
     Green Party      Labour Party      Liberal Democrats      Conservative Party      UKIP      BNP

List of chairs of the assembly

Chairs of the assembly
Name Entered office Left office Political party
Trevor Phillips May 2000 May 2001 Labour
Sally Hamwee May 2001 May 2002 Liberal Democrat
Trevor Phillips May 2002 February 2003 Labour
Sally Hamwee February 2003 May 2004 Liberal Democrat
Brian Coleman May 2004 May 2005 Conservative
Sally Hamwee May 2005 May 2006 Liberal Democrat
Brian Coleman May 2006 May 2007 Conservative
Sally Hamwee May 2007 May 2008 Liberal Democrat
Jennette Arnold May 2008 May 2009 Labour
Darren Johnson May 2009 May 2010 Green
Dee Doocey May 2010 May 2011 Liberal Democrat
Jennette Arnold May 2011 May 2013 Labour
Darren Johnson May 2013 May 2014 Green
Roger Evans May 2014 May 2015 Conservative
Jennette Arnold May 2015 May 2016 Labour
Tony Arbour May 2016 May 2017 Conservative
Jennette Arnold May 2017 incumbent Labour

Committees

The assembly has formed the following committees:[7]

The Police and Crime Committee was set up under the terms of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 in order to scrutinise the work of Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, which replaced the Metropolitan Police Authority.[8] The chair of the Police and Crime Committee is Joanne McCartney, deputy chairs are Caroline Pidgeon and Jenny Jones, and other members are Tony Arbour, Jeanette Arnold, John Biggs, Victoria Borwick, Len Duvall and Roger Evans.

Result maps

Note that these maps only show constituency results and not list results.

References

  1. "Gareth Bacon". Glaconservatives.co.uk. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  2. "Localism Act 2011". Legislation.gov.uk. 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  3. "BBC News – How the London election works". Bbc.co.uk. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. "London Assembly Members". The London Assembly. Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority.
  5. "Tory and Labour MPs gang up in bid to strip London Assembly of PR voting system". 23 December 2016.
  6. "Tories confirm London Assembly also faces election rules shake-up". 19 May 2017.
  7. "Committee structure | London City Hall". London.gov.uk. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  8. "Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011". Legislation.gov.uk. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
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