London boroughs

The 32 London boroughs and the City Corporation run most of the day-to-day services across the capital.

Each council is made up of elected councillors (usually around 60) representing wards within the borough. They set the Council Tax levels which, along with extra funding from central government, allows each borough to provide services such as education, housing, social services, street cleaning, waste disposal, roads, local planning and many arts and leisure services. The boroughs do not run police or health services.

London Councils

London Councils is the collective voice of London's local authorities. Its role is fighting for more resources for London and getting the best possible deal for London’s 33 councils. Part think-tank and part lobbying organisation, London Councils also runs a range of services designed to make life better for Londoners.

London borough elections

The London borough elections are held every four years. They are ‘all-out’ elections, when all 1,861 seats are contested.

The elections for the Corporation of London are not operated on the same system as the 32 boroughs. Members of the Corporation's governing bodies are elected by the City's residents and business voters.

The City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002 reformed the voting system, which had been unchanged since the 1850s. Under the new system, any incorporated or unincorporated body can appoint one or more representatives to vote on its behalf as long as it physically occupies premises within the City. As a result, the 'business vote' is increased by 16,000 to 32,000. The number of voters per organisation depends on the size of the workforce at the premises concerned.

Further information

The London Councils website provides further information, including the London Government Directory which lists information including addresses for the 33 London borough councils and names of councillors and officers, and has a search facility. It also includes a guide to how councils are structured.

The Government Office for London's website provides access to key borough statistics, supplied by government departments and the Office for National Statistics. These include (under the Statistics and Borough Performance heading on the page for a borough) census information, performance indicators, and education statistics.

City government

Who does what

History

Central Government

GLA Group, Mayor & Assembly

Freedom of information

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