Why does the London Mayor have decision making powers, but other mayors from other major cities have not?

Question

Ive wondered for a while why Boris Johnson has a lot more power in the running of a city than other majors. I live in Bristol, and never hear of our mayor (perhaps opening a new school etc).

Is it a historic matter, or because London is our capital?

Thanks for your comments

Answer 1

Because London is another country within the UK, or they think they are, and probably should be.

Answer 2

The Mayor of London is a political post set up by the Labour government and it's back fired on them in this case because a Conservative has been elected. The elected Mayor was given powers by Labour to be the boss and run that authority even though it also had elected councillors who normally form committees or cabinet Members to do that. We saw that done with excesses when Red Ken ran London giving perks to all his favourite groups and cronies without  a thought for the born Londoner.

The traditional Mayor is elected by their fellow councillors who in turn have been elected by the local residents. He or she is the first citizen of that local authority and takes precedence over all others except Her Majesty the Queen. It is a long English and Welsh tradition that Labour tried to belittle by having elected mayors, why they couldn't be called Leaders or Chairman of their authority I'm at a loss to know.

Answer 3

Boris johnson has executive powers because he is a directly elected mayor, elections for a Mayor of London were created under the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

There other directly elected mayors in the UK, a local authority can have a directly elected mayor under provisions in the Local Government Act 2000. In order to have a directly elected mayor there needs to be a referendum.

To date there have been 37 referendums on whether to establish an elected mayor in English local authorities. Twelve have been passed and 25 rejected by the voters.

To cause a referendum, the normal procedure is for the council to request it, which has happened in 22 cases. In 14, the voters themselves have requested a referendum by petition and in one (Southwark) central Government forced the holding of a referendum.

Answer 4

It's neither, really.  It's a very new and alien system to Britain.

The system of London's local government was almost entirely copied from the New York system - which involves an executive mayor.  An example of New Labour's adoration for all things American.

Additionally, it means the Executive's staff are of a highly politicized nature, hence the large degree of resignations we've been having in Johnson's tenure.  It's a system which isn't well suited to British political tradition, which calls for apolitical service.

Answer 5

its because london is the capital, and they think they should get everything!

It's the same here though, the two major cities I live near (Liverpool and Manchester) don't have that power. Why? because the capital doesn't deem any other city except itself to be important.