The
City of Westminster ( ) is a London borough occupying much of the central
area of London
, England,
including most of the West End
. It is located to the west of and adjoining
the ancient City of
London
, and its southern boundary is the River Thames. It is an Inner London borough and was created in 1965
when Greater
London
was established. At its creation
Westminster was awarded city status, which had
been previously held by the smaller City of
Westminster
metropolitan borough. Aside from a number of
large
parks and open
spaces, the density of the district is high.
It is the location of
the London home of the British monarch at Buckingham
Palace
and of the United Kingdom's government.
The city
is divided into a number of localities including the ancient
political district of Westminster
around the Palace of Westminster
; the shopping areas around Oxford Street
, Regent
Street
and Bond
Street
; and the night time entertainment district of
Soho
. Much of the borough is residential and in
2008 it was estimated to have a population 236,000.
History
In 1965
the London borough was created from the former area of the
metropolitan boroughs of St
Marylebone
, Paddington
and the smaller City of
Westminster
. The earlier Westminster metropolitan
borough was itself the result of an
amalgamation in 1900.
Demography
According to the
2001
census, the borough had a population of 181,279. Westminster
City Council undertook several studies, supported by both political
parties on the council, that indicated that this figure was too
low. The
Office for
National Statistics eventually added 17,500 people to
Westminster's population, increasing its grant from the United
Kingdom Government. The official population is now 198,779, but
some estimates put it at 220,000. 71% of the population are white,
16% any Asian ethnicity, 7% Black, 6% racially-mixed, and 4% belong
to other racial groups. About 35% of households are occupied by
their owners.
Politics
The city is divided into 20 wards. The council is composed of 49
Conservative Party members
and 11
Labour Party members.
The council is known for its infamous "homes for votes" scandal.
Shirley Porter was involved in the
illegal "Building stable communities" exercise of the 1980s.
| Evolution of Parliamentary representation |
Next election |
| 1918 |
1950 |
1974 |
1979 |
1997 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary results of elections
|
Overall control |
Conservative |
Labour |
Residents |
| 2006 |
Conservative |
48 |
12 |
- |
| 2002 |
Conservative |
48 |
12 |
- |
| 1998 |
Conservative |
47 |
13 |
- |
| 1994 |
Conservative |
45 |
15 |
- |
| 1990 |
Conservative |
45 |
15 |
- |
| 1986 |
Conservative |
32 |
27 |
1 |
| 1982 |
Conservative |
43 |
16 |
1 |
| 1978 |
Conservative |
39 |
19 |
2 |
| 1974 |
Conservative |
37 |
23 |
- |
| 1971 |
Conservative |
37 |
23 |
- |
| 1968 |
Conservative |
55 |
5 |
- |
| 1964 |
Conservative |
41 |
19 |
- |
|
Districts
The City of Westminster covers all or part of the following areas
of London:
Economy
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office,
London
is located in Westminster. BP
is headquartered in St.
James's
, Westminster. Pearson
PLC and subsidiary
Penguin Group
are headquartered in a facility in Westminster.
Economist Group, publisher of
The Economist and other materials, is
headquartered in Westminster.
SABMiller
has its head office in Westminster.
Landmarks
Westminster contains many of the most famous sites in London.
Some of
the popular tourist sites are Buckingham Palace
, Palace of Westminster
(Houses of Parliament) and Big
Ben
and nearby Westminster Abbey
.
Parks and open spaces
These
include Green
Park
, Hyde Park
, Kensington Gardens
, Regent's
Park
and St James's Park
. In addition to parks and open spaces within
the borough, the City owns and maintains East
Finchley Cemetery
and crematorium in the London
Borough of Barnet
.
Transport
Bridges
These
include Chelsea
Bridge
, Hungerford Bridge
, Grosvenor
Bridge
, Lambeth
Bridge
, Vauxhall
Bridge
, Waterloo
Bridge
and Westminster Bridge
.
Main line stations
These are
Charing
Cross
, Marylebone
, Paddington
and Victoria
.
London Underground
The City of Westminster is served by 27 tube stations, and 10 of
the 12 Underground lines (the
East
London line and
Waterloo and
City line are the exceptions).
Electric charging points
Westminster City Council now has electric vehicle charging points
in 15 locations through the city (13 car parks and two on-street
points). Users pay an annual fee to cover administration costs to
register and use the points.
Education
Westminster Children's Services operates many community primary and
secondary schools. In addition, several voluntary-aided
Church of England (CE),
Roman Catholic (RC), and Christian
non-denominational (ND) schools are in the city.
Universities and colleges
Public libraries
The
London
Library
, an independent lending library, is located at 14
St. James's Square in the City of Westminster.
The city operates one reference library, the Westminster Reference
Library. City-operated public lending libraries in Westminster
include the Charing Cross Library, the Church Street Library, the
Maida Vale Library, the Marylbone Library, the Mayfair Library, the
Paddington Library, the Pimlico Library, the Queen's Park Library,
St. James's Library, St. John's Wood Library, and the Victoria
Library. In addition the city has two specialist libraries, the
Westminster Music Library, the largest music library in the United
Kingdom, and the Westminster Chinese Library in the Charing Cross
Library.
Gallery
Image:Gurkha Soldier Monument, London -
April 2008.jpg|Statue of a Gurkha in City of
Westminster
, London
.Image:Buckingham Palace, London, England,
24Jan04.jpg|Buckingham
Palace
and the Victoria Memorial
Image:WestminsterCathedralFull.jpg|Westminster
Cathedral
Image:Nelson On His Column - Trafalgar
Square - London - 240404.jpg|Nelson's Column
in Trafalgar Square
Image:Piccadilly.jpg|The
Shaftesbury Memorial in Piccadilly Circus
Image:Hungerford Bridge, River Thames,
London, England.jpg|Hungerford Bridges
, seen from the northImage:St james park
east.jpg|St James's
Park
Lake, looking east, with the London Eye
in the backgroundImage:St martin in
the fields exterior.jpg|St Martin-in-the-Fields
Image:Chinatown.london.700px.jpg|Chinatown
in 2004.
See also
References
External links
Video clips