This is a list of the various heads of local government organisations that have served London, England.
The Metropolitan Board of Works, created in 1855, was the first elected authority covering the whole metropolis of London, including the suburbs outside the ancient boundaries of the City of London. The area of the Metropolitan Board of Works became the County of London in 1889, which was enlarged to become the county of Greater London in 1965. The leaders of these bodies were:
| From | To | Name | Party | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1855 | 8 Aug 1870 | Chairman of Metropolitan Board of Works | |||
| 18 Nov 1870 | 20 Mar 1889 | James McGarel-Hogg | |||
| 21 Mar 1889 | 27 Mar 1890 | Leader of London County Council | |||
| 27 Mar 1890 | 9 Mar 1892 | ||||
| 9 Mar 1892 | 10 Mar 1898 | ||||
| 10 Mar 1898 | 8 Mar 1907 | ||||
| 8 Mar 1907 | 11 Mar 1908 | ||||
| 11 Mar 1908 | 8 Mar 1910 | ||||
| 8 Mar 1910 | 19 Dec 1911 | ||||
| 19 Dec 1911 | 16 Mar 1915 | ||||
| 16 Mar 1915 | 1 Mar 1918 | ||||
| 1 Mar 1918 | 11 Mar 1925 | ||||
| 11 Mar 1925 | 9 Mar 1934 | ||||
| 9 Mar 1934 | 27 May 1940 | ||||
| 27 May 1940 | 29 Jul 1947 | ||||
| 29 Jul 1947 | 31 Mar 1965 | ||||
| 1 Apr 1965 | 14 Apr 1967 | Leader of Greater London Council | |||
| 14 Apr 1967 | 13 Apr 1973 | ||||
| 13 Apr 1973 | 6 May 1977 | ||||
| 6 May 1977 | 8 May 1981 | ||||
| 8 May 1981 | 2 Aug 1984 | ||||
| 2 Aug 1984 | 21 Sep 1984 | ||||
| 21 Sep 1984 | 31 Mar 1986 | ||||
| 1 Apr 1986 | 3 May 2000 | No London-wide elected authority | |||
| 4 May 2000 | Dec 2003 | Mayor of London | |||
| Dec 2003 | 3 May 2008 | ||||
| 4 May 2008 | 8 May 2016 | ||||
| 9 May 2016 | Incumbent | ||||
The Lord Mayor of the City of London is an ancient office and is the chief position of the Corporation of London.
The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was an ad hoc body formed in 1849 to bring London's sewerage and drainage under the control of a single public body. In 1856 it was abolished with its powers passing to the Metropolitan Board of Works.[1]
The Metropolitan Board of Works was a general purpose authority for the metropolitan area of London from 1855 to 1889.
The London School Board was an ad hoc authority. The functions were eventually absorbed by the London County Council.
The Metropolitan Asylums Board was an ad hoc authority. The functions were eventually absorbed by the London County Council.
The London County Council was a county council covering the County of London.
See main article: List of chairmen of the London County Council. The chairmanship and vice chairmanship of the London County Council were statutory offices created in 1889 and abolished in 1965. The positions were largely ceremonial, similar to the office of mayor in a borough. The council's standing orders also provided for the post of deputy chairman. Each of these offices were held for a one-year term of office.
The post of Leader was only officially recognised in 1933. This table gives the Leaders of the majority parties on the council before this time, although in the first term this had little relevance in terms of the leadership of the Council.
The Greater London Council was the county council for Greater London from 1965 to 1986.
Although Inner London Education Authority was created in 1964 and came into its powers in 1965, the post of Leader did not exist until April 1967. For the period 1964–67 the de facto Leadership was shared between the Chairman of the Education Committee, James Young, and the Chairmen of the Authority, Harold Shearman (from 1964–1965) and Ashley Bramall (1965–1967).
The London Residuary Body was responsible for disposing of the assets of the Greater London Council.
The Mayor of London is the executive of the Greater London Authority. The role has existed since 2000.
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/04/1964 till:01/01/2021TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:8 start:01/04/1964
Colors = id:con value:rgb(0.094,0.525,0.8) legend:Conservative id:lab value:rgb(0.937,0.094,0.129) legend:Labour id:ind value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8) legend:Independent
Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100
TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Leaders:"
BarData = barset:PM bar:Fiske bar:Plummer bar:Goodwin bar:Cutler bar:Livingstone bar:none bar:Johnson bar:KhanPlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM bar:Fiske from: 01/04/1964 till: 01/04/1967 color:lab text:"Fiske" fontsize:10
bar:Plummer from: 01/04/1967 till: 01/04/1973 color:con text:"Plummer" fontsize:10
bar:Goodwin from: 01/04/1973 till: 01/04/1977 color:lab text:"Goodwin" fontsize:10
bar:Cutler from: 01/04/1977 till: 17/05/1981 color:con text:"Cutler" fontsize:10
bar:Livingstone from: 17/05/1981 till: 31/03/1986 color:lab text:"Livingstone" fontsize:10
bar:none from: 31/03/1986 till: 02/05/1997 color:darkblue fontsize:10 from: 02/05/1997 till: 04/05/2000 color:red text:"No London government" fontsize:10
bar:Livingstone from: 04/05/2000 till: 10/06/2004 color:ind fontsize:10 from: 10/06/2004 till: 04/05/2008 color:lab text:"Livingstone" fontsize:10
bar:Johnson from: 04/05/2008 till: 09/05/2016 color:con text:"Johnson" fontsize:10
bar:Khan from: 09/05/2016 till: 24/01/2020 color:lab text:"Khan" fontsize:10