The 1998 Greater London Authority referendum was held in Greater London on 7 May 1998. The referendum asked whether there was support for creating a Greater London Authority composed of a directly elected Mayor of London and a London Assembly to scrutinise the Mayor's actions. Voter turnout was low, at just 34.1%. The referendum was held under the Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998 provisions. Polling day coincided with the 1998 London local elections.
Background
Labour's 1997 general election manifesto, New Labour, New Life for Britain, mentioned establishing a directly elected mayor and authority.
This would be the first London-wide government since the abolition of the Greater London Council.
The government published a green paper with the title New Leadership for London in July 1997. This laid out the principles of the GLA: a strong mayor and a "strategic" assembly.
|-
! rowspan="2" | Local authority
! colspan="2" | Votes
! colspan="2" | Proportion of votes
! rowspan="2" | Turnout*
|-
! Agree
! Disagree
! Agree
! Disagree
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| City of London || 977 || 574 || 63.0 || 37.0 || 30.6
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Barking and Dagenham || 20,534 || 7,406 || 73.5 || 26.5 || 24.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Barnet || 55,487 || 24,210 || 69.6 || 30.4 || 35.3
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Bexley || 36,527 || 21,195 || 63.3 || 36.7 || 34.7
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Brent || 47,309 || 13,050 || 78.4 || 21.6 || 35.6
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Bromley || 51,410 || 38,662 || 57.1 || 42.9 || 40.2
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Camden || 36,007 || 8,348 || 81.2 || 18.8 || 32.8
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Croydon || 53,863 || 29,368 || 64.7 || 35.3 || 37.2
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Ealing || 52,348 || 16,092 || 76.5 || 23.5 || 37.8
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Enfield || 44,297 || 21,639 || 67.2 || 32.8 || 32.8
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Greenwich || 36,756 || 12,356 || 74.8 || 25.2 || 32.4
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Hackney || 31,956 || 7,195 || 81.6 || 18.4 || 33.8
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Hammersmith and Fulham || 29,171 || 8,255 || 77.9 || 22.1 || 33.6
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Haringey || 36,296 || 7,038 || 83.8 || 16.2 || 29.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Harrow || 38,412 || 17,407 || 68.8 || 31.2 || 36.0
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Havering || 36,390 || 23,788 || 60.5 || 39.5 || 33.8
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Hillingdon || 38,518 || 22,523 || 63.1 || 36.9 || 34.4
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Hounslow || 36,957 || 12,554 || 74.6 || 25.4 || 31.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Islington || 32,826 || 7,428 || 81.6 || 18.5 || 34.2
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Kensington and Chelsea || 20,064 || 8,469 || 70.3 || 29.7 || 27.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Kingston upon Thames || 28,621 || 13,043 || 68.7 || 31.3 || 41.1
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Lambeth || 47,391 || 10,544 || 81.8 || 18.2 || 31.7
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Lewisham || 40,188 || 11,060 || 78.4 || 21.6 || 29.3
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Merton || 35,418 || 13,635 || 72.2 || 27.8 || 37.6
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Newham || 33,084 || 7,575 || 81.4 || 18.6 || 27.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Redbridge || 42,547 || 18,098 || 70.2 || 29.8 || 34.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Richmond upon Thames || 39,115 || 16,135 || 70.8 || 29.2 || 44.5
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Southwark || 42,196 || 10,089 || 80.7 || 19.3 || 32.7
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Sutton || 29,653 || 16,091 || 64.8 || 35.2 || 34.9
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Tower Hamlets || 32,630 || 9,467 || 77.5 || 22.5 || 34.2
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Waltham Forest || 38,344 || 14,090 || 73.1 || 26.9 || 33.6
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Wandsworth || 57,010 || 19,695 || 74.3 || 25.7 || 38.7
|- style="background:lightgreen;"
| Westminster || 28,413 || 11,334 || 71.5 || 28.5 || 31.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| Totals || 1,230,759 || 478,413 || 72.01 || 27.99 || 34.1
|}
The 'Yes' vote won in every London Borough, though support was generally larger in Inner London than in Outer London.
The establishment of directly elected mayors was suggested as possibly as constitutionally significant as Scottish devolution or Welsh devolution.
References
External links
- MayorWatch London Elections Guide