Mayor of London: one of the top jobs in politics
The Mayor of London has one of the most high-profile jobs in English politics – a coveted post at the head of an internationally-renowned, sprawling and dynamic metropolis.
The Greater London Authority (GLA), consisting of the mayor and assembly, was first elected in 2000, with the mayor elected for a single constituency of Greater London, an area with 7.5 million people.
The mayor’s powers cover, to varying degrees, transport, planning and land use, and responsibilities for economic development, the police and the fire and emergency services.
The transport brief is by far the most powerful, with policies such as the congestion charge and Oyster cards just two of a series of innovations implemented by Ken Livingstone.
Powerful post
The mayor has “significant” powers over new building and land use through the London Plan, which has the force of law and which London boroughs must comply with.
The post also carries responsibilities for promoting economic development through the London Development Agency.
The mayor sets the budgets of Transport for London, The Metropolitan Police Authority and of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.
The mayor appoints some members of the police authority, following nominations by the London Assembly, and also appoints the Fire Authority, following nominations by the Assembly and the London boroughs.
He appoints the boards of Transport for London and the London Development Agency.
Political strong man
The powers of the mayor of London also include control over the management of two of London’s most important public spaces: Trafalgar and Parliament Squares.
Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), described the post as a “strong man model” within a relatively weak tier of government.
He said the mayor of London is powerful in relation to certain areas. In transport, for example, the post is more powerful than that of mayor of New York or Paris.
But he said the range of other powers given to the mayor of London is not nearly as wide.
The mayor of London is a directly-elected executive with responsibility for making executive decisions, and is subject to scrutiny by the 25-member London Assembly.
Budget veto
But the most powerful intervention open to the assembly is a once-a-year chance to overturn the mayor’s budget – and then only if there is a two-thirds majority in favour of an alternative budget.
“The London Mayoral system is analogous to George Bush with no Congress; that is why the mayor is pretty powerful once he is in office,” said Travers. “Arguably that is exactly what Tony Blair, who was then prime minister, intended.
“Mr Blair was a presidential prime minister who liked presidential power, so, surprise, surprise, he thought that a directly elected mayor with lots of power would be a good idea in London.”
