The Politics of London; Governing an Ungovernable City

by Tony Travers

• ISBN13: 9780333961001
• ISBN10: 0333961005
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2004-02-07
• Publisher: Red Globe Pr

Summary

Interest in the governance of London has remained high in the years following the election of a London mayor and all the twists and turns of Mayor Livingstone's term of office, including struggles with Whitehall and the boroughs.Written a leading authority, Governing London provides a definitive critique of the politics, administration and government of one of the world's leading cities and recommends major changes to the capital's government to address its longstanding crisis of governability.

Author Biography

Tony Travers is Director of Research, Greater London Group, London School of Economics.

Gerry Stoker is Professor of Politics, University of Manchester.

David Wilson is Professor of Public Administration and Head of the Department of Public Policy, De Montfort University, Leicester.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	viii
List of Abbreviations	ix
Preface	xi
London in Context	1	(20)
Size matters: why London is `too big'	2	(3)
London today	5	(3)
London within the UK	8	(3)
Understanding urban governance	11	(7)
London's new governance: steering, rowing, drowning or waving?	18	(2)
Conclusion	20	(1)
The Struggle to Govern London	21	(22)
Origins	21	(2)
The Metropolitan Board of Works and local particularism	23	(2)
The London County Council and the metropolitan boroughs	25	(3)
The Greater London Council and the post-1965 boroughs	28	(3)
After abolition: the long interregnum	31	(4)
The new pragmatism	35	(4)
Docklands: a case-study in the evolution of London politics after 1986	39	(2)
Conclusion	41	(2)
Metropolitan Millennium: The Road to Reform, 1997--2000	43	(37)
New Labour and the legacy of the 1980s	43	(2)
Labour's approach prior to the 1997 election	45	(3)
Labour in government: the process of reform	48	(3)
Reforms in London	51	(4)
The mayoral race begins	55	(1)
The green paper	56	(2)
From green paper to white paper	58	(4)
The referendum and the Greater London Authority Act, 1999	62	(6)
Electing the mayor	68	(5)
The election	73	(5)
Conclusion	78	(2)
The Greater London Authority: Creating a New Institution	80	(26)
The GLA Transition Team	80	(3)
The early days of the GLA	83	(3)
The Mayor's Office	86	(2)
Other mayoral appointments	88	(6)
The advisory cabinet	94	(1)
Mayoral commissions	95	(1)
The assembly	96	(4)
GLA officers	100	(4)
Conclusion	104	(2)
Capital Idea? The GLA in Practice	106	(31)
Mayoral government comes to Britain	106	(7)
The London Assembly: 25 members in search of a role?	113	(4)
Separating the executive and scrutiny functions	117	(3)
The deputy mayor	120	(2)
Creating a new regional government	122	(4)
The functional bodies	126	(6)
The Budget process	132	(2)
Conclusion	134	(3)
Boroughs, Quangos and Partnerships: The Wider Governance of London	137	(18)
London's governance: the regional aspect	138	(4)
The GLA and central government	142	(1)
Boroughs and sub-regional partnerships	143	(3)
Quangos and other service agencies	146	(3)
Business in London	149	(5)
Conclusion	154	(1)
A Very British Mayor?	155	(27)
Who needs metropolitan government?	155	(4)
Foreign influences?	159	(2)
How does London compare?	161	(3)
City government overseas	164	(16)
Conclusion	180	(2)
Is London Ungovernable?	182	(29)
The protean city	182	(1)
An effective system?	183	(1)
The mayor and the Mayor's Office -- running the GLA	184	(4)
The mayor and the Mayor's Office -- what did the GLA achieve?	188	(5)
The assembly	193	(4)
Implications for British government	197	(8)
Further reform?	205	(4)
The London elections of 2004	209	(2)
References	211	(7)
Index	218