The London Assembly is a 25-member 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. 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.
Video London Assembly
Assembly members
The assembly comprises 25 members elected using the Additional Member System of proportional representation, with 13 seats needed for a majority. 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. 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.
Former members
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 simultaneously 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. At the 2017 UK general election, the Conservative Party manifesto proposed changes to how the assembly is elected, to first-past-the-post.
List of assembly members
Maps London Assembly
List of chairs of the assembly
Committees
The assembly has formed the following committees:
- Audit Panel
- Budget and Performance Committee
- Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee
- Confirmation Hearings Committee
- Devolution Working Group
- Economy Committee
- Education Panel
- Environment Committee
- GLA Oversight Committee
- Health Committee
- Housing Committee
- Online Crime Working Group
- Planning Committee
- Police and Crime Committee
- Regeneration Committee
- Transport Committee
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. 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
External links
- London Assembly
- London Assembly publications
- City Hall Labour
- Conservatives in the London Assembly
- London Assembly Liberal Democrats
Source of article : Wikipedia
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