Greater London Authority

The Mayor of London, who is responsible for representing all Londoners and taking decisions on key matters. The Mayor is elected on a 4 year term. The most recent election was in May 2024 with the next election scheduled for 2028. This will be done by Supplementary Vote, as will further elections.

Given the GLA’s distinct devolution settlement, the powers, functions and funding within the devolution framework will be applied to the GLA on a case-by-case basis. This will enable the GLA to benefit from the devolution framework, while maintaining its bespoke arrangements. We have set out how the powers in the devolution framework apply to the GLA in the devolution framework explainer.

The GLA is comprised of:

• The Mayor of London, who is responsible for representing all Londoners and taking decisions on key matters. The Mayor is elected on a 4 year term. The most recent election was in May 2024 with the next election scheduled for 2028. This will be done by Supplementary Vote, as will further elections.
• The London Assembly, which scrutinises the exercise of the Mayor of London’s functions and conducts investigations into London issues. There are 25 members of the Assembly, 14 of which represent constituencies, 11 represent all of London. Constituency members are elected via first-past-the-post, London-wide members are elected via the additional member system. The next elections for the Assembly take place in 2028.

The Mayor of London is the executive decision maker for the GLA. The Mayor is required by law to take some decisions and is not allowed to delegate them. For other decisions, the Mayor is able to delegate decisions to:

• the Deputy Mayor
• any member of staff of the Authority
• Transport for London
• any Mayoral development corporation
• Homes England
• the Common Council (also known as the City of London)
• any local authority

The GLA has a decision-making framework, which ensure decisions are taken at the correct level.