Greater London Authority

Greater London Authority
Mayor of London elected every four years London Assembly elected every four years
Type
Type	Local authority of Greater London
Houses	Unicameral
Term limits	None
Leadership
Mayor of London	Sadiq Khan, ​Labour Since May 2016
Deputy Mayor of London	Joanne McCartney, Labour Since May 2016
Chairman of the London Assembly	Tony Arbour, Conservatives Since May 2016
Deputy Chairman of the London Assembly	Jennette Arnold, Labour Since May 2016
Leader of Largest Group	Len Duvall, Labour
Head of Paid Service	Jeff Jacobs
Seats	1 mayor and 25 assembly members
Elections
Mayor of London voting system	Supplementary vote
London Assembly voting system	Additional member
Mayor of London last election	May 2016
London Assembly last election	May 2016
Mayor of London next election	May 2020
London Assembly next election	May 2020
Meeting place
City Hall, Southwark, London
Website
www.london.gov.uk

The Greater London Authority (GLA) is a top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Sadiq Khan, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers. The authority was established in 2000, following a local referendum, and derives most of its powers from the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the Greater London Authority Act 2007.

It is a strategic regional authority, with powers over transport, policing, economic development, and fire and emergency planning. Three functional bodies — Transport for London, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority — are responsible for delivery of services in these areas. The planning policies of the Mayor of London are detailed in a statutory London Plan that is regularly updated and published.

The Greater London Authority is mostly funded by direct government grant and it is also a precepting authority, with some money collected with local Council Tax. The GLA is unique in the British local government system, in terms of structure, elections and selection of powers. The authority was established to replace a range of joint boards and quangos and provided an elected upper tier of local government in London for the first time since the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986.

The GLA is responsible for the strategic administration of the 1579 km² (610 sq. miles) of Greater London. It shares local government powers with the councils of 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation. It was created to improve the co-ordination between the local authorities in Greater London, and the Mayor of London's role is to give London a single person to represent it. The Mayor proposes policy and the GLA's budget, and makes appointments to the capital's strategic executive such as Transport for London. The primary purpose of the London Assembly is to hold the Mayor of London to account by scrutiny of his or her actions and decisions. The assembly must also accept or amend the Mayor's budget on an annual basis. The GLA is based at City Hall, a new building on the south bank of the River Thames, next to Tower Bridge.