30
allow the electorate the chance to decide if they wanted a directly-elected mayor. Of
these, eleven decided to try out this form of directly-elected devolution.
104
But the reason
for Blair to place his unyielding support behind democratically-accountable mayors was
due to the success of the very first mayoral devolution referendum held in the city of
London in 1998.
After the Government published a White Paper entitled “A Mayor and Assembly
for London” in March of 1998, the scene was set for a city-wide referendum.
105
The
referendum simply asked the London populace if they supported the Government’s
policy for a directly-elected Mayor and Assembly for the city.
106
Unlike in Scotland,
Londoners were not asked if the Greater London Authority should have the ability to vary
the rate of taxation. The referendum took place on May 7, 1998 and the results among
those who actually voted were heavily in favor of the proposal.
107
The turnout was a
meager 34.6 percent of the electorate, but 72 percent of those who did vote were in favor,
while only 28 percent voted against.
108
Overall, despite the low turnout, the referendum
proved a massive success for the Labour Government as they were on the path towards
devolving directly-accountable power to an area in England rather than in Scotland or
Wales.
On May 5, 2000, the first ever election of the Mayor and Assembly of the Greater
London Authority (GLA) took place. Despite having to run as an independent candidate,
the former Mayor of London within the Greater London Council (GLC), which had been
104
Information available from the New Local Government Network think-tank website:
http://www.nlgn.org.uk
.
105
John Tomaney, “The Governance of London,” in The State and the Nations: The First Year of
Devolution in the United Kingdom, ed. Robert Hazell (Thorverton: Imprint Academic, 2000), 247.
106
Ibid., 247.
107
Alexandra Frean, “Race Under Way for a Capital Appointment,” The Times, 8 May 1998.
108
Tomaney, “The Governance of London,” 247.
Convention