After our recent general election delivered a hung parliament, Britain is now being governed collaboratively, with positions of power occupied by politicians from different parties. However, this collaborative form of governing has been going on in London for the past decade, receiving support from both the general public and politicians.

At the centre of London’s political structure is the Mayor – currently Boris Johnson – who serves four year terms and is elected by Londoners. This independent vote means the Mayor of London is not necessarily aligned with the political party running the country, a result that London has seen on no less than two separate occasions in the short history of its Mayoral system.

However, Johnson has little involvement in the day-to-day running of this metropolis, with this being done by the 32 boroughs that make up Greater London. Whilst the Mayor works with each borough to ensure the delivery of his strategic vision for the capital, public services like social housing, refuse collection and schooling are managed locally.

The Mayor is responsible for transport, planning and development, policing, fire services, environmental issues and the general economic well-being of the city, and has a total budget of less than £2 billion. So whilst Johnson is not involved in the implementation of public services on a local level, he is actively involved in the services that affect London as a whole, but his budgetary choices are closely scrutinised.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) calls itself a “strategic authority with a Londonwide role to design a better future for the capital” and it exists to provide administrative support to the Mayor in his efforts to improve London.

The GLA also exists to support the work of the London Assembly – a panel of 25 elected members who scrutinise the actions of the Mayor and investigate matters of importance to London. The Assembly directly question the Mayor on his policies and spending plans, and have some limited powers to change the way he governs the city – but cannot remove him from office.

This relative independence is typical of the London mayoral system. The GLA and London Assembly ensure the Mayor’s role is undertaken successfully, but neither have the power to directly remove him from office. Similarly, the Mayor does not have the right to restructure either of these authorities without national government support.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the United Kingdom without at least one ancient, historically-led exception to the rule, which in this case is the City of London. Located directly in the centre of London, the City of London is the historic core of the city which today acts as its main business and financial district.

Classed as its own city, the City of London has a separate Mayor known as the Lord Mayor of London, leading an administrative body traditionally known as the Corporation of London. The Lord Mayor’s role is unpaid, and exists to promote the financial and business services on offer in the City. Despite comprising an ancient system of wards, committees and community assemblies, the responsibilities of the Corporation are similar to the 32 borough councils, and may be thought of as London’s 33rd borough.

Image courtesy of Robert Gigliotti on flickr