London Assembly | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 3 July 2000 |
| Leadership | |
Deputy Chair | |
Group leaders | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 25 |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Committees | List
|
| Elections | |
| Additional-member system (Mixed-member proportional representation) | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 4 May 2028 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| City Hall, Newham, London | |
| Website | |
| london.gov.uk | |
Template:Politics of London 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 the mayor's draft statutory strategies.[2] The London Assembly was established in 2000. It is also able to investigate other issues of importance to Londoners, publish its findings and recommendations, and make proposals to the mayor.
Assembly members[edit | edit source]
The Assembly comprises 25 members elected using the additional-member system or mixed-member proportional representation system. A majority in the chamber (usually 13) is needed to pass measures. Elections take place every four years, at the same time as those for the mayor of London. London is divided into 14 geographical constituencies, each electing one member. Each voter casts two votes - one for election of the local member; the other as a party vote. A further 11 members are elected from party lists in such as way as to give each substantial party a share of seats that approximates the party's share of the party votes cast across the whole of London. The 11 seats are allocated using a modified D'Hondt allocation.[3] A party must win at least 5% of the party list vote in order to win any seats. Members of the London Assembly have the post-nominal title "AM". The annual salary for a London Assembly member is approximately £60,416.[4]
Former Assembly members[edit | edit source]
Since its creation in 2000, sixteen Assembly members subsequently were elected to the House of Commons: David Lammy, Meg Hillier, Diana Johnson, and Florence Eshalomi for Labour; Andrew Pelling, Bob Neill, Angie Bray, Bob Blackman, Eric Ollerenshaw, Victoria Borwick, James Cleverly, Kit Malthouse, Kemi Badenoch, Gareth Bacon and Peter Fortune for the Conservatives; Lynne Featherstone for the Liberal Democrats and Siân Berry for the Green Party.
One Assembly member, Jenny Jones, was elevated to the House of Lords as the Green Party's first life peer in 2013, continuing to sit in the Assembly until May 2016. Sally Hamwee, Graham Tope, and Toby Harris were already peers when elected to the assembly, while Lynne Featherstone and Dee Doocey were created life peers after standing down from the Assembly.
Val Shawcross, AM for Lambeth and Southwark, unsuccessfully contested Bermondsey and Old Southwark as the Labour parliamentary candidate at the 2010 general election, and Navin Shah stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate for Harrow East in 2017. Andrew Dismore, Graham Tope, and the late Richard Tracey are all former MPs later elected to the assembly. John Biggs, formerly AM for City and East, served as the directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets from 2015 until 2022.
Structure of the assembly[edit | edit source]
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. Terms are for four years, so despite the delayed 2020 election, which was held in 2021, the following election was held in 2024.
In December 2016, an Electoral Reform Bill was introduced which would have changed the election system to first-past-the-post.[5] At the 2017 general election, the Conservative Party manifesto proposed changing how the Assembly is elected to first-past-the-post.[6]
However, after the general election of 2017, which resulted in a hung Parliament with the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party in a confidence and supply arrangement, no action was taken with regard to the electoral arrangements of the London Assembly, and the 2020 election, delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was held on the current electoral system of AMS (constituencies and regional lists).
| Political party | Assembly members elected | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Vert header | Template:Vert header | Template:Vert header | Template:Vert header | Template:Vert header | Template:Vert header | 2024 | |||
| Labour | 9 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 / 25
| |
| Conservative | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 / 25
| |
| Green | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 / 25
| |
| Liberal Democrat | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 / 25
| |
| Reform UK | 0 | 1 | 1 / 25
| ||||||
| UKIP | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| BNP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
On 12 December 2018, following Peter Whittle's departure from UKIP, he and David Kurten disbanded the UKIP grouping and formed the Brexit Alliance group.
In March 2019, following the departure of Tom Copley and Fiona Twycross to take up full-time Deputy Mayor roles, Murad Qureshi and Alison Moore replaced them as Labour Assembly members. The end of the term in office for AMs was extended from May 2020 to May 2021, as no elections were being held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
List of current Assembly members[edit | edit source]
List of chairs of the London Assembly[edit | edit source]
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Phillips | May 2000 | May 2001 | Labour Party | |
| Sally Hamwee | May 2001 | May 2002 | Liberal Democrats | |
| Trevor Phillips | May 2002 | February 2003 | Labour Party | |
| Sally Hamwee | February 2003 | May 2004 | Liberal Democrats | |
| Brian Coleman | May 2004 | May 2005 | Conservative Party | |
| Sally Hamwee | May 2005 | May 2006 | Liberal Democrats | |
| Brian Coleman | May 2006 | May 2007 | Conservative Party | |
| Sally Hamwee | May 2007 | May 2008 | Liberal Democrats | |
| Jennette Arnold | May 2008 | May 2009 | Labour Party | |
| Darren Johnson | May 2009 | May 2010 | Green Party of England and Wales | |
| Dee Doocey | May 2010 | May 2011 | Liberal Democrats | |
| Jennette Arnold | May 2011 | May 2013 | Labour Party | |
| Darren Johnson | May 2013 | May 2014 | Green Party of England and Wales | |
| Roger Evans | May 2014 | May 2015 | Conservative Party | |
| Jennette Arnold | May 2015 | May 2016 | Labour Party | |
| Tony Arbour | May 2016 | May 2017 | Conservative Party | |
| Jennette Arnold | May 2017 | May 2018 | Labour Party | |
| Tony Arbour | May 2018 | May 2019 | Conservative Party | |
| Jennette Arnold | May 2019 | May 2020 | Labour Party | |
| Navin Shah | May 2020 | May 2021 | Labour Party | |
| Andrew Boff | May 2021 | May 2022 | Conservative Party | |
| Onkar Sahota | May 2022 | May 2023 | Labour Party | |
| Andrew Boff | May 2023 | May 2025 | Conservative Party | |
| Len Duvall | May 2025 | Incumbent | Labour Party | |
Committees[edit | edit source]
The Assembly has formed the following committees:[1]
- Audit Panel, chaired by Neil Garratt
- Budget and Performance Committee, chaired by Neil Garratt
- Confirmation Hearings Committee
- Economy, Culture, and Skills Committee, chaired by Hina Bokhari
- Environment Committee, chaired by Leonie Cooper
- Fire Committee, chaired by Zack Polanski
- GLA Oversight Committee, chaired by Bassam Mahfouz
- Health Committee, chaired by Emma Best
- Housing Committee, chaired by Zoë Garbett
- Planning and Regeneration Committee, chaired by James Small-Edwards
- Police and Crime Committee, chaired by Marina Ahmad
- Transport Committee, chaired by Elly Baker
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.[8]
Result maps[edit | edit source]
These maps only show constituency results and not list results.
London Youth Assembly[edit | edit source]
The London Assembly also operates a London Youth Assembly (LYA), which is made up of young people from across London. Each London borough elects or selects a representative and deputy representative to serve on the assembly.[9][10] The procedure for choosing a representative is different in each borough, with some boroughs electing representatives while other representatives are selected by their local youth forum or council.[11] Representatives are aged 11 to 19, or 11 to 25 if they have a disability or special needs.[10][9] A representative may be known as a London Youth Assembly Member (LYAM) and a deputy representative may be known as a Deputy London Youth Assembly Member (DLYAM).[10]
Ashan Khehra served as Chair of the London Youth Assembly (LYA) between 2024-25. He was elected unanimously in April 2024. He previously served as the LYA Member for Hounslow. Khehra has oversaw efforts to re-establish the Assembly following a period of inactivity. During his tenure, the LYA introduced several new initiatives, including the London Youth Achievement Awards, developed in partnership with the London Assembly to mark its 25th anniversary. He also implemented a shadow cabinet within the Assembly, intended to provide a structured way for young people to engage with and contribute to discussions on city-level policy. The current Chair is Hugo Maxwell who is the LYAM for Bromley.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Includes 6 Labour Co-op AMs.
- ↑ Keith Prince was elected as a Conservative and defected to Reform UK in 2025.[7]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Assembly starts 25th Anniversary year with longest serving Member as Chair". London Assembly. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
- ↑ "Localism Act 2011". Legislation.gov.uk. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ↑ "How the London election works". BBC. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ↑ "Salaries, expenses, benefits and workforce information". London City Hall. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ↑ Stone, Jon (23 December 2016). "Tory and Labour MPs gang up in bid to strip London Assembly of PR voting system". The Independent.
- ↑ Hoscik, Martin (19 May 2017). "Tories confirm London Assembly also faces election rules shake-up". Mayor Watch. Mayor Watch. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ↑ Grew, Tony (4 October 2025). "Tory London Assembly member Keith Prince defects to Reform UK". BBC News. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ↑ "Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011". Legislation.gov.uk. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The London Youth Assembly". London Assembly. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "How the London Assembly Works for You: An Easy Read Guide" (PDF). www.london.gov.uk. p. 17. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ↑ "The London Youth Assembly" (PDF). Greater London Authority. Retrieved 26 January 2025.