Minister for London

The Minister for London was a United Kingdom ministerial post that is part of the government of London. The post was scrapped by David Cameron after he came to office in 2010.^[1] The post was last held by Tessa Jowell from 2009 to 2010; she had previously held the office from 2007 to 2008.

The Minister was responsible for informing Members of Parliament in the British House of Commons on proceedings in the London Assembly.

History

London had been under the authority of the London County Council and then the Greater London Council, but Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986 after clashes with its leader, Ken Livingstone. Most of the municipal powers were then devolved to the 32 individual boroughs. Under John Major, however, the need for more centralized organisation was addressed by a series of moves. John Gummer was appointed Minister of London concurrently with his tenure as Secretary of State for Environment, and in 1994 the Government Office for London was established.^[2] After Tony Blair entered office, the Labour government set up an elected Mayor of London.^[2] This office, along with a reconstituted Greater London Authority, worked with the Minister and the Government Office.

List of Ministers for London

• John Gummer 1994–1997 (also Secretary of State for Environment)
• Nick Raynsford 1997–1999
• Keith Hill 1999–2001
• Nick Raynsford 2001–2003
• Tony McNulty March 2003 – June 2003 ^[3]
• Keith Hill 2003–2005 ^[4]
• Jim Fitzpatrick 2005–2007 (also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development)
• Tessa Jowell 2007–2008 (also Minister for the Olympics and Paymaster-General)
• Tony McNulty 2008–2009 (also Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform)
• Tessa Jowell 2009–2010 (also Paymaster General, Minister for the Olympics and Minister for the Cabinet Office)

Shadow Minister

The position of Shadow Minister for London was retained by Labour under the leadership of Ed Miliband, and was held by Sadiq Khan throughout Miliband's leadership. However, since Khan's nomination as Labour's candidate for Mayor of London and Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the office has remained vacant.

See also

• Regional minister

References

1. Mulholland, Hélène (4 June 2010). "Minister for London post abolished by David Cameron". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
2. Ben Pimlott (2002). Governing London. Nirmala Rao. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924492-8.
3. "Press release: Association of London Government looking forward to working with new Minister for London". 2003-03-12. Archived from the original on 2007-11-27.