Greater London Council
Greater London Council | |
---|---|
Unicameral | |
History | |
Established | 1 April 1965 |
Disbanded | 31 March 1986 |
Preceded by | London County Council |
Succeeded by | Inner London Education Authority London Boroughs Grants Committee London Fire and Civil Defence Authority London Planning Advisory Committee London Regional Transport London Research Centre and various others |
Structure | |
Seats | Electoral divisions |
Councillors | 100 (1965–1973) 92 (1973–1986) |
Aldermen | 16 (1965–1973) 15 (1973–1977) |
Elections | |
First election | 9 April 1964 |
Last election | 7 May 1981 |
Meeting place | |
County Hall, Lambeth which was the headquarters of the GLC.[1] |
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs and other entities. A new administrative body, known as the Greater London Authority (GLA), was established in 2000.
Background
In 1957 a Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London had been set up under Sir Edwin Herbert to consider the local government arrangements in the London area.
It reported in 1960, recommending the creation of 52 new
Most of the commission's recommendations were accepted, but the number of new boroughs was reduced to 32.
Some areas on the boundaries of the area recommended by the Herbert Commission, fearing increased local taxation, fought successfully not to come under the new Greater London Council, notably the urban districts of Chigwell in Essex; and Sunbury-on-Thames, Staines and Potters Bar in Middlesex. Other areas recommended for inclusion that were never part of Greater London included Epsom and Ewell, Caterham and Warlingham, Esher, and Weybridge.[5]
The elections for the new Greater London Council took place on April 9, 1964, and at that point the old London County Council passed into history.[6][7]
Creation
The GLC was established on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963, which sought to create a new body covering more of London rather than just the inner part of the conurbation, additionally including and empowering newly created London boroughs within the overall administrative structure.[8]
Within the new Greater London administrative area the council replaced Essex County Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Kent County Council, London County Council, Middlesex County Council and the councils of the county boroughs of Croydon, East Ham and West Ham.
GLC councillors elected for Inner London electoral divisions (the former County of London) became
Powers
The GLC was responsible for running strategic services such as the
According to one observer:
Looked at from the angle of the GLC... it is useful to consider planning, highways, and traffic together, not only because of the links between them but also because, apart from housing, most other functions of the GLC although important in themselves, do not add up to an argument for a large authority of this type. The GLC is a strategic planning authority, taken in the widest sense, or it is nothing.[12]
Composition and political control
Each of the six GLC elections was won by the leading national opposition party, with the party in government nationally coming second in the GLC elections.[13]
The first GLC election was on 9 April 1964. Each of the new boroughs elected a number of representatives under the
At the next election in 1967 the unpopularity of the national Labour government produced a massive Conservative victory with 82 seats, to Labour's 18.[13] Desmond Plummer became the first Conservative leader of London-wide government in 33 years. The Conservatives retained control in 1970 with a reduced majority.[14]
In 1972 the electoral system was reformed to introduce
The GLC's hopes under the Labour administration of Reg Goodwin were badly affected by the oil crisis of 1974. Massive inflation, combined with the GLC's £1.6 billion debt, led to heavy rate increases (200% in total before the next election in 1977) and unpopular budget cuts. Some months before the 1977 elections the Labour Group began to split. A left group, including Ken Livingstone, denounced the election manifesto of the party.[14]
The Conservatives regained control in May 1977, winning 64 seats under their new
The May 1981 election was presented as a clash of ideologies by the Conservatives –
Elections to the GLC
The first election was held on 9 April 1964, a year before the creation of the council. Subsequent elections were held every three years for a three-year term in 1967, 1970 and 1973. The first three elections were for 100 councillors from 32 multi-member constituencies. This was revised to 92 councillors from single-member constituencies from the 1973 election. The electoral cycle was switched to four-yearly in 1976 and those elected in 1973 had their term extended by another year.[16] Elections were held for a four-year term in 1977 and 1981. In 1984 the elections that were due to happen in 1985 were cancelled and those elected in 1981 had their term extended by another year.[17] The results were as follows:[13]
Overall control | Conservative | Labour | Liberal | ||
1981 | Labour | 41 | 50 | 1 | |
1977 | Conservative | 64 | 28 | – | |
1973 | Labour | 32 | 58 | 2 | |
1970 | Conservative | 65 | 35 | – | |
1967 | Conservative | 82 | 18 | – | |
1964 | Labour | 36 | 64 | – |
Aldermanic elections
In addition to the councillors, there were
Notable schemes
The most notable and successful scheme of the GLC was the construction of the Thames Barrier that took place between 1974 and 1982 at a cost of £534 million. Some saw it as a GLC vanity project but over time people's opinions have changed: the barrier was used 35 times in the 1990s and was raised 75 times in the first decade of the 21st century, due to rising sea-levels.[6]
In 1969, the GLC announced its plans for the London Ringways which were three motorways that were proposed to solve London's traffic problem once and for all. However, the scheme met with heavy opposition as it would have included the demolition of 30,000 homes. The Westway road scheme was opened in 1970 and hailed as a vision of the future. A review into the planned Ringways took place between 1970 and 1972. It concluded that construction should begin on the controversial Ringway One to relieve congestion in central London, but that the others needed a re-think. The Outer Ringway was given the go-ahead in 1973 and opened in 1986 as the M25 motorway. The remainder of the GLC's Ringway plans were finally killed off in the 1980s due to public opposition. This meant that the capital was left on a much more human scale than it might have been, but also meant that London was left with an eternally unsolved traffic problem.[18]
In 1983, GLC considered investing £230,000 into
After
In addition to the Thames Barrier, other notable successful GLC transport schemes which changed London included the opening of the Blackwall Tunnel second bore and the improvements to the Woolwich Ferry service.[20]
Abolition
By 1983, the government argued for the abolition of the GLC, claiming that it was inefficient and unnecessary, and that its functions could be carried out more efficiently by the boroughs. The arguments for this case which were detailed in the
The
The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) continued in existence for a few years, and direct elections to it were held, but ILEA was finally also disbanded in 1990, with the Inner London boroughs assuming control over education as the outer boroughs had done on their creation in 1965.[9]
Replacement
Most of the powers of the GLC were devolved to the London boroughs. Some powers, such as the fire service, were taken over by
Tony Blair's Labour government was elected in 1997, and was committed to bringing back London-wide government. In 1998 a referendum was held on the establishment of a new London authority and elected mayor, which was approved by a two to one margin.[27]
The new Greater London Authority (GLA) was established in 2000 and was effectively a scaled down version of the GLC.[6] The GLA has a very different structure to the GLC, consisting of a directly elected Mayor of London and a London Assembly. The Mayor of London elections were won by the same Ken Livingstone, who began his victory speech with the words: "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago ...".[28][6]
In February 2020, Labour's Tom Copley, supported by the Conservative's Tony Arbour, both members of the London Assembly, called for the GLC's coat of arms to be adopted by the GLA but this has not materialised.[29][30] Since the abolition of the GLC in 1986 the London Fire Brigade has continued to use the GLC coat of arms.[29]
The archives of the Greater London Council are held at London Metropolitan Archives.[31]
Leaders of the GLC
Number | Image | Leader | Term | Party | Seat | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sir Bill Fiske (1905–1975) |
1964–1967 | Labour
|
Havering | ||
2 | Sir Desmond Plummer (1914–2009) |
1967–1973 | Conservative
|
Westminster and the City of London
| ||
3 | Sir Reg Goodwin (1908–1986) |
1973–1977 | Labour
|
Bermondsey | ||
4 | Sir Horace Cutler (1912–1997) |
1977–1981 | Conservative
|
Harrow West | ||
5 | Ken Livingstone (born 1945) |
1981–1986 | Labour
|
Paddington |
Ken Livingstone resigned on 2 August 1984, triggering the
- Timeline
See also
- History of local government in London
- List of electoral divisions in Greater London
- List of Greater London Council committee chairs
- Members of the Greater London Council
- Greater London Council Staff Association
- Greater London Area War Risk Study
- £750,000 to Coin Street Community Buildersin 1984
- GLC: The Carnage Continues... – satire of the GLC politics by The Comic Strip
- Gay Rights Working Party – part of the Greater London Council
References
- Londonist. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ Kochan, Ben, ed. (2008). "Introduction". London government 50 years of debate: The contribution of LSE's Greater London Group (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 4.
- ^ "NCC Control Needed". The Ottawa Citizen. 10 May 1965. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "London Boroughs Map". Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ a b Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, 1957–60, (Cmnd. 1164) was published on 19 October 1960
- ^ ISBN 9781847945327.
- ^ TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Local Government Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 14 March 1962. col. 278–291.
- ^ a b "Inner London Education Authority". AIM25. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ISBN 0117506168.
- ^ "The Battle for Covent Garden". Covent Garden Memories. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- JSTOR 23286284.
Ruck, G. and Rhodes, S. (1970). The Government of Greater London. p. 96
- ^ a b c d e "GLC Election Results Summaries". Election Demon. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Electoral History of the Greater London Council". Election Demon. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ Wainwright, Hilary (6 April 200). "The good old days". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ a b "The London Councillors Order 1976" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 17 February 1976. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ "Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984". legislation.gov.uk. 31 July 1984. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
No ordinary elections of councillors of the Greater London Council or for a metropolitan county shall be held after the coming into force of this Part of this Act; and any such councillor— (a)whose term of office would, apart from this section, expire on 7th May 1985; or (b)who is elected to fill a vacancy occurring after that date,shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until 1st April 1986
- ISBN 9781847945327.
- ^ a b c d "Lucas rail-bus gains a new lease of life". New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 18 August 1983. p. 475. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ a b Webber, Esther (31 March 2016). "The rise and fall of the GLC". BBC Online. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ Williams, Fran (28 October 2019). "Brutal refurbishment: Studio Egret West upgrades Balfron Tower". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ Bullen, Alexandra (May 2014). "Building of the month". The Twentieth Century Society. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ McGonagle, Suzanne (29 April 2016). "Ken Livingstone has also faced controversy over views on Ireland". The Irish News. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ISBN 9780203412756.
- Timmins, Nicholas (26 September 1992). "Japanese win fight for County Hall". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ Atkinson, H. & Wilks-Heeg, S., Local Government from Thatcher to Blair: The Politics of Creative Autonomy, 2000
- ^ "1998 Greater London Authority Referendum Results". Mayor Watch. 28 May 1998. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- ^ Waugh, Paul; Grice, Andrew (5 May 2000). "Ken reclaims the capital". The Independent.
- ^ a b "Greater London Authority could adopt GLC coat of arms". London SE1 Community Website. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ Khpal, Mohammad (2 April 2020). "A new logo for London is long overdue". OnLondon. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Greater London Council (including London Residuary Body)". National Archives. Retrieved 15 September 2019.