London borough
From Open Encyclopedia
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The administrative area of Greater London contains 32 London Boroughs, of which 12 (plus the City of London) make up Inner London and 20 Outer London.
The London boroughs are administered by 'London Borough Councils' which are elected every four years. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their areas. Some functions however are now the responsibillity of the Greater London Authority. Some services and lobbying of government are pooled within the Association of London Government.
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Map
| Image:LondonNumbered.png | ||
| † not a London borough | ||
History
The present boroughs came into existence on 1 April 1965 with the creation of Greater London. The first London Borough elections had been held in 1964 with the newly elected London Borough Councils acting as "shadow" Authorities before coming into power the following year
They had wider authority than the inner London metropolitan boroughs and neighbouring urban districts and municipal boroughs which they mostly replaced, but less power than the three county boroughs of Croydon, West Ham and East Ham, which ceased to exist at the same time.
Between 1965 and 1986 the London boroughs were part of a two-tier system of government, and shared power with the Greater London Council (GLC). However on on 1 April 1986, the GLC was abolished, the London boroughs inherited most of its powers and became in effect unitary authorities (combining both county and borough functions). Since the creation in 2000 of a new Greater London Authority, covering the former GLC area but with more limited powers, the boroughs now have powers intermediate between those of English unitary authorities and non-metropolitan districts within shire counties.
The City of London is administered by its own distinct body, the Corporation of London, which predates the London boroughs.
The word borough has cognates in virtually every Germanic language, as well as other Indo-European languages. For a fuller explanation, see under borough.
Inner London boroughs
| New (London) borough | Old (Metropolitan) boroughs |
|---|---|
| Camden | Hampstead, Holborn, St Pancras |
| Greenwich | Greenwich, most of Woolwich |
| Hackney | Hackney, Shoreditch, Stoke Newington |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | Hammersmith, Fulham |
| Islington | Islington, Finsbury |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Kensington, Chelsea |
| Lambeth | Lambeth (and Streatham and Clapham from Wandsworth) |
| Lewisham | Lewisham, Deptford |
| Southwark | Bermondsey, Camberwell, Southwark |
| Tower Hamlets | Bethnal Green, Poplar, Stepney |
| Wandsworth | Battersea, Wandsworth (except Streatham and Clapham) |
| Westminster | Paddington, St Marylebone, Westminster |
Outer London boroughs
See also: List of places in London
See also
External link
- Islington council map page with clickable map linking to each borough's web site.
| Image:Glc.gif Greater London | London | City of London Image:City of London flag.gif |
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London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham | Barnet | Bexley | Brent | Bromley | Camden | Croydon | Ealing | Enfield | Greenwich | Hackney | Hammersmith and Fulham | Haringey | Harrow | Havering | Hillingdon | Hounslow | Islington | Kensington and Chelsea | Kingston | Lambeth | Lewisham | Merton | Newham | Redbridge | Richmond | Southwark | Sutton | Tower Hamlets | Waltham Forest | Wandsworth | City of Westminster |
|
| Current structure of subnational entities in England (2006) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region level: | Region | Region | Region | Region | |
| County level: | Metropolitan county | Shire county | Unitary authority | Greater London | |
| District level: | Metropolitan district | Shire district | n/a | London borough | |
| Parish level: | (Civil parish) | (Civil parish) | (Civil parish) | n/a | |
