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 (see
Greater London Authority). Since 4 May 2008,
Conservative Boris Johnson holds the position. Previously, the position was 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 also referred to as the London Mayor, a form which helps to avoid confusion with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the ancient and now mainly ceremonial role in the geographically smaller inner-city region of the City of London. The Mayor of London is mayor of Greater London which has a population of over 7.5 million.
The Mayor of London is elected by Supplementary Vote 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.
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.
