ABSTRACT
The Greater London Act 1999 created the office of Mayor and the London Assembly. The Mayor was to be directly elected and a new executive authority for the region, with a role that is similar to the directly elected mayors in American cities, though with more limited powers. The twenty-five Assembly members were also to be directly elected, with fourteen from constituencies and eleven from a regional list. The Assembly was not given any executive powers. Its role was to scrutinize the Mayor’s activities. The Assembly’s only effective power is the ability on a two-thirds majority to reject the Mayor’s budget. The Assembly has a relatively small support office, which limits its ability to carry out investigations and reviews without external assistance. All other officers – initially some 500, but by 2008 over 700 staff – report through the chief executive to the Mayor.
