London

is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It is the most populous
city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.
Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two
millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it
Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12square-mile (2.9 km2) mediaeval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population
of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the
term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core.
London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures, and more than 300
languages are spoken within Greater London.
The Form Of Government Of London

Local government
The administration of London is formed of two tiersa city-wide, strategic tier
and a local tier. City-wide administration is coordinated by the Greater London
Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities.
The GLA consists of two elected components; the Mayor of London, who has
executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinise the mayor's decisions
and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the
GLA is City Hall, Southwark; the mayor is Boris Johnson. The mayor's statutory
planning strategy is published as the London Plan, which was most recently revised
in 2011. The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the
City of London Corporation. They are responsible for most local services, such as
local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection. Certain
functions, such as waste management, are provided through joint arrangements. In
20092010 the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA

amounted to just over 22 billion (14.7 billion for the boroughs and 7.4 billion for
the GLA).
Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is
provided by the Metropolitan Police Force, overseen by the Mayor through the
Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). The City of London has its own police
force the City of London Police. The British Transport Police are responsible for
police services on National Rail and London Underground services.
The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for Greater
London. It is run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and is the
third largest fire service in the world. National Health Service ambulance services
are provided by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust, the largest free-atthe-point-of-use emergency ambulance service in the world. The London Air
Ambulance charity operates in conjunction with the LAS where required. Her
Majesty's Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution operate on the
River Thames, which is under the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority from
Teddington Lock to the sea.

National government
London is the seat of the Government of the United Kingdom. Many
government departments are based close to the Palace of Westminster, particularly
along Whitehall, including the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. The
British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this
sobriquet was first applied to England itself by John Bright) because it has been the
model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other
parliaments. There are 73 Members of Parliament (MPs) from London, who
correspond to local parliamentary constituencies in the national Parliament. Of
these, 38 are from the Labour Party, 28 are Conservatives, and 7 are Liberal
Democrats.
Greater London Authority
The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the top-tier administrative body for
Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of
London, currently Boris Johnson, 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.