It covers the 23 London boroughs. The head of the Greater London Authority is the Mayor of London, currently Ken Livingstone. He and the [London Assembly]? are elected by popular vote.
This current organisation replaces the [Greater London Council]?, which was abolished by Margaret Thatcher in 1986 on the grounds that it was inefficient. Observers commented that it might also have been because elected [Labour party]? members were commonly in the majority and therefore controlled the council, and because it was headed by Ken Livingstone, who in the 1980s had markedly left-wing views even by Labour party standards.
The [Greater London Authority]? was created to imporve the coordination of the various London boroughs and the [Mayor of London]?'s role is to give London a single person to represent it.
The Greater London Authority must be distinguished from the City of London, which only controls the square mile. While the Greater London Authority has a modern constitution, the organisation of the City of London has barely changed since mediaeveal times, and is mainly controlled by City bussiness interests.
See also Scotland Yard.
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