The
City of London Corporation (also known as the
Corporation of London)
is the municipal
governing body of the City of London
. It exercises control only over the City (the
"Square Mile", so called for its approximate area), and not over
Greater
London
. It has three main aims: to promote the city
as the world's leading international financial and business centre;
to provide local government services; and to provide a range of
additional services for the benefit of London, Londoners and the
nation.
The City of London Corporation is formally named the
Mayor
and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, thus
including the
Lord
Mayor, the
Court of Aldermen,
the
Court of Common Council and the
Freemen and
Livery
of the City.
Local authority role
Local government legislation often makes special provision for the
City to be treated as a
London
borough and for the Common Council to act as a local authority.
The
Corporation does not generally exercise authority over two historic
extra-parochial areas, the
Middle
Temple
and the Inner Temple
, which are adjoining enclaves for two of the Inns of Court in the west of the City.
But many statutory functions of the Corporation extend into these
two areas.
Elections
The City of London Corporation was not reformed by the
Municipal Corporations Act
1835, nor by subsequent legislation, and with time has become
increasingly anomalous. In 1801 the City had a population of about
130,000, but increasing development of the City as a
central business district led to
this falling to below 5,000 after the
Second World War.
It has risen slightly
to around 9,000 since, largely due to the development of the
Barbican
Estate
.
Therefore the
non-residential
vote (or business vote), which had been abolished in the rest
of the country in 1969, became an increasingly large part of the
electorate. The non-residential vote system used disfavoured
incorporated companies. The
City of London Act
2002 greatly increased the business franchise, allowing many
more business to be represented. In 2009 the business vote was
about 24,000, greatly exceeding residential voters.
Voters
Eligible
voters must be at least 18 years old and a citizen of the United Kingdom
, a European Union
country, or a Commonwealth
country, and either:
Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated,
whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number
of voters based on the number of workers it employs. Limited
liability partnerships fall into this category.
Bodies employing fewer than ten workers may appoint one voter,
those employing ten to fifty workers may appoint one voter for
every five; those employing more than fifty workers may appoint ten
voters and one additional voter for every fifty workers beyond the
first fifty.
Though workers count as part of a workforce regardless of
nationality, only certain individuals may be appointed as voters.
Under section 5 of the
City of London (Ward Elections) Act
2002, the following are eligible to be appointed as voters
(the qualifying date is
September 1 of
the year of the election):
- Those who have worked for the body for the past year at
premises in the City
- Those who have served on the body's Board of Directors for the past year at
premises in the City
- Those who have worked in the City for the body for an aggregate
total of five years
- Those who have worked for in the City for a total of ten
years
Qualified voters can vote twice, once at local government elections
in the City and once at local government elections in the district
where their home address is situated. Residents of the City can
only vote once.
Wards
The City of London is divided into twenty-five
wards, or electoral divisions. Each ward may
elect one
Alderman and a number of
Councilmen based on the size of the electorate. The numbers below
reflect the changes caused by the
City of London (Ward
Elections) Act.
Livery companies
There are over one hundred
livery
companies in London. The companies were originally trade
associations; in modern times, much of their role is ceremonial.
The senior members of the livery companies, known as liverymen,
form a special electorate known as Common Hall. Common Hall is the
body that chooses the Lord Mayor of the City, the sheriffs and
certain other officers.
The Court of Aldermen
Wards originally elected
aldermen for life,
but the term is now only six years. The alderman may, if he
chooses, submit to an election before the six-year period ends. In
any case, an election must be held no later than six years after
the previous election. The sole qualification for the office is
that Aldermen must be
Freemen of
the City.
Aldermen are
ex officio Justices of the Peace. All Aldermen
also serve in the Court of Common Council.
The Court of Common Council
The north wing of Guildhall, which houses most of the
administration of the City.
The
Court of Common Council, also known as the
Common Council of the City of London, is formally
referred to as the
mayor, aldermen, and commons of the City
of London in common council assembled.
Each ward may choose a number of common councilmen. A Common
Councilman must be a registered voter in a City ward, own a
freehold or lease land in the City, or reside in the City for the
year prior to the election. He or she must also be over 21; a
Freeman of the
City; and a British, Irish, Commonwealth or EU citizen. Common
Council elections are held every four years, most recently in March
2009. Common Councilmen may use the initials CC after their
names.
The Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs
The
Lord Mayor of the
City of London and the two
Sheriff are chosen by
liverymen meeting in Common Hall. Sheriffs, who serve as assistants
to the Lord Mayor, are chosen on
Midsummer
Day. The Lord Mayor, who must have previously been a Sheriff,
is chosen on
Michaelmas. Both the Lord
Mayor and the Sheriffs are chosen for terms of one year.
The Lord Mayor fulfills several roles:
The
ancient and continuing office of Lord Mayor of the City of London
(with responsibility for the City of London) should not be confused
with the office of Mayor of London
(responsible for the whole of Greater London and created in 2000).
Conservation areas and green spaces
The City
of London Corporation maintains around 10,000 acres (40 km²)
of public green spaces - mainly conservation areas / nature
reserves - in Greater
London and the surrounding
counties. The most well-known of the conservation
areas are Hampstead
Heath
and Epping
Forest
. Other areas include Ashtead
Common
, Burnham
Beeches
, Highgate
Wood
and the South London Commons (six commons on the
southern fringe of London).
Unusually, the Corporation also runs the
unheated Parliament
Hill Lido
, as it is part of Hampstead Heath inherited from
the London Residuary Body in
1989.
The City
also owns and manages two traditional city parks: Queen's Park and West Ham Park
as well as over 150 smaller public green
spaces.
Education
The City of London has only one directly-maintained primary school.
The school is called the Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School
(ages 4 to 11). The school is the only voluntary-aided
Church of England primary school in the
City of London. The school is maintained by the
Education Service of the
City of London.
City of London residents may send their children to schools in
neighbouring
Local Education
Authorities (LEAs).
For
secondary schools children enroll in schools in neighbouring LEAs,
such as Islington
, Tower Hamlets
, Westminster
and Southwark
. Children who have permanent residence in the
city of London are eligible for transfer to the City of
London Academy
, an independent secondary school sponsored by the
City of London that is located in Southwark.
The City
of London controls three other independent schools — the City of London School for
Boys, the City of London School for
Girls
, and the co-educational City of
London Freemen's School
. The Lord Mayor also holds the posts of
Chancellor of City
University
and President of Gresham College
, an institute of advanced study.
The
Guildhall School
of Music and Drama is owned and funded by the
Corporation.
Criticism
The City of London Corporation has long come in for criticism due
to its unusual form of governance.
"The corporation is a group of hangers-on, who create what is known
as the best dining club in the City ... a rotten borough." -
John McDonnell, during
the debates on the Ward Elections Act.
"Nowadays, with its Lord Mayor, its Beadles, Sheriffs and Aldermen,
its separate police force and its select electorate of freemen and
liverymen, the City of London is an anachronism of the worst kind.
The Corporation, which runs the City like a one-party mini-state,
is an unreconstructed old boys' network whose medievalist pageantry
camouflages the very real power and wealth which it holds." -
pp110,
Rough Guide to England,
2006
An attempt was made to amalgamate the corporation with the local
government structures serving the rest of London at the end of the
19th century. A
Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of
London reported a mechanism for this to be achieved in 1894.
However, the amalgamation did not take place.
See also
References
- The body was popularly known as the Corporation of
London but on 10 November 2005 the Corporation announced that its informal title would from 3
January 2006 be the City of London (or the City of
London Corporation where the corporate body needed to be
distinguished from the geographical area). This may reduce
confusion between the Corporation and the Greater
London Authority.
-
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10076924&c_id=10001043&add=N
- Example usage: interpretation clause in the Open Spaces Act 1906.
-
http://www.ramblers.org.uk/INFO/parks/corporationoflondon.html
- Corporation of London Open Spaces
-
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/Education/schools/schools.htm#muscat_highlighter_first_match
-
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/our_services/Education/schools/primary_schools.htm
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