The 1998 Greater London Authority referendum was held in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

on 7 May 1998. The referendum asked whether there was support for creating a

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...

composed of a directly elected

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

and a

London Assembly 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 supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...

to scrutinise the Mayor's actions.

Voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was low, at just 34.1%. The referendum was held under the Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998 provisions. Polling day coincided with the 1998 London local elections.

Background

Labour's 1997 general election manifesto, '' New Labour, New Life for Britain,'' mentioned establishing a directly mayor and authority. This would be the first London-wide government since the abolition of the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. The government published a green paper with the title ''New Leadership for London'' in July 1997. This laid out the principles of the GLA: a strong mayor and a "strategic" assembly. The full proposals were confirmed in a March 1998 white paper entitled ''A'' ''Mayor and Assembly for London'' which set out the full details of the proposal.

Referendum question

The referendum asked voters the following question: Voters were permitted to select either a simple YES or NO answer.

Result

Overall result

Results by borough

The 'Yes' vote won in every

London Borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

, though support was generally larger in

Inner London Inner London is the group of London boroughs that form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area ...

than in Outer London. The lowest support figures were 60.5% in

Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

and 57.1% in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

; the greatest were 83.8% in Haringey and 81.8% in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

. The income level of boroughs was an even greater factor affecting the outcome.

Aftermath

The government passed the

Greater London Authority Act 1999 The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) is the Act of Parliament that established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London. Background Before the creation of the Greater London Authority, there was no si ...

, creating the

. The first elections for the

and the

were held in May 2000. The

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

criticised the referendum's low turnout, and suggested that it undermined the legitimacy of the referendum. The Labour Party refuted this suggestion, by instead suggesting that many people had decided to not vote because they perceived the result as a foregone conclusion, and that there was significant enthusiasm for a "strong, independent, political voice that can speak up for Londoners". The establishment of directly elected mayors was suggested as possibly as constitutionally significant as Scottish devolution or Welsh devolution.

References

External links

MayorWatch London Elections Guide
{{Devolution in the United Kingdom Devolution referendum Greater London Authority referendum Devolution referendum Referendums in England Devolution in the United Kingdom Greater London Authority referendum