| Mayor of London | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
 | |
| Greater London Authority | |
| Type | Council Leader |
| Status | Chief executive officer |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | London Assembly |
| Seat | City Hall, London |
| Appointer | Electorate ofLondon |
| 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 | £170,282 (per annum)[1] |
Themayor of London is the chief executive of theGreater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after theGreater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the firstdirectly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.[2]
SirSadiq Khan took office as mayor on 9 May 2016, and was re-elected in 2021 and 2024. The position had been held byKen Livingstone from the creation of the role on 4 May 2000 until he was defeated after two terms in May 2008 byBoris Johnson, who also served two terms before Khan was elected.
The mayor is scrutinised by theLondon Assembly and, supported by theirMayoral Cabinet, is responsible for the strategic government of the entirety of London, including theCity of London (for which there is also theLord Mayor of the City of London). Each of the 32London Boroughs also has a ceremonial mayor or,in Croydon,Hackney,Lewisham,Newham andTower Hamlets, an elected mayor. The mayor of London is elected by the largest single-member electorate in the United Kingdom.
TheGreater London Council, the elected government forGreater London, was abolished in 1986 by theLocal Government Act 1985. Strategic functions were split off to various joint arrangements. Londoners voted ina referendum in 1998 to create a new governance structure for Greater London. The directly elected mayor of London was created by theGreater London Authority Act 1999 in 2000 as part of the reforms.
The mayor is elected by thefirst-past-the-post system for a fixed term of four years, with elections taking place in May. Prior to theElections Act 2022, thesupplementary 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.
A London mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024,[3] with results announced on 4 May.[4] Sadiq Khan was re-elected as mayor beating the ConservativeSusan Hall, becoming the first mayor elected for three terms.
| Colour key (for political parties) |
|---|
| # | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Elected | Political party | Previous, concurrent and subsequent political offices | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Ken Livingstone (born 1945) | 4 May 2000 | 4 May 2008[note 1] | 2000 2004 | Independent Labour | Member of theGreater London Council[note 2](1973–1986) Leader of theGreater London Council(1981–1986) Member of Parliament forBrent East(1987–2001) | |
| 8 years, 0 days | ||||||||
| 2 | .jpg) | 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 |  | SirSadiq 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 Justice andShadow Lord Chancellor(2010–2015) | |
| 9 years, 283 days | ||||||||
Most powers are derived from theGreater London Authority Act 1999, with additional functions coming from theGreater London Authority Act 2007, theLocalism Act 2011 andPolice 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 TrustAET to 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 England and 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 taken byKen Livingstone as Mayor of London included theLondon congestion charge on 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 card electronic ticketing system forTransport for London services.[11] Livingstone supported the withdrawal of the vintageAEC Routemaster buses 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 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 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 Time in 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 France cycle race to London.
In May 2008,Boris Johnson introduced 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 Londoner newspaper, 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 card electronic ticketing to all National Rail overground train services.[16] Also in 2010, he openeda cycle hire scheme (originally sponsored byBarclays bank, nowSantander bank) 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" which had been bought by Livingstone from service in 2011, and supported the development of theNew Routemaster bus[17] which entered service the next year.
In 2011, Boris Johnson set up the Outer London Fund of £50 million designed to help 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] As of 2011[update] the recipients of phase 2 funding were still to be announced.
In January 2013, he appointed journalistAndrew Gilligan as 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 election of 7 May 2015, Johnson was elected MP forUxbridge and South Ruislip,[24] He continued to serve as mayor for the remainder of his term, and was not a candidate in the mayoral election of May 2016, won by Labour'sSadiq Khan. Johnson was laterelected prime minister in 2019.
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SirSadiq Khan introduced the 'bus hopper' fare onTfL buses, which allows passengers to board a second bus within one hour for the same fare.[25] Under Khan cash payment for travel was discontinued; payment was accepted, as before, byOyster payment card, andcontactless payment bydebit or credit card was introduced, an initiative started under Johnson.[26]
Upon election, Khan outlined a vision to make London the "greenest city" by investing in walking andcycling infrastructure and reducing polluting vehicles.[27] In 2019, the London "Ultra Low Emission Zone" (ULEZ), in which higher-polluting vehicles pay a charge, was established.[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]The Government postponed all elections due in May 2020, including for the mayor of London, for one year due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, so that Khan served a five- rather than four-year first term.
Elections were held in May 2021;[31] Khan was re-elected for a three-year term,[32] defeating the Conservative candidateShaun Bailey.[33][34]
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But because of the processes involved, he won't be technically in office until just after midnight on Monday.
