London Assembly members have called for City Hall’s 20th anniversary to be marked by the transfer of the Greater London Council’s coat of arms to the Greater London Authority.
Established in 1965 the GLC sat at County Hall and was responsible for providing transport services, housing and operating the capital’s fire service.
At its abolition in 1986 the body was headed by Ken Livingstone who went on to become the capital’s first directly elected Mayor following the creation of the Greater London Authority, which comprises the mayoralty and Assembly, in 2000.
To mark the GLA’s second decade of existence Assembly Members want current Mayor Sadiq Khan to support calls for the College of Arms to transfer the GLC’s coat of arms to the GLA.
A motion calling for the mayor’s assistance was adopted unanimously at today’s Assembly meeting.
Tom Copley AM, who proposed the motion said: “We should be immensely proud of the wide-ranging and far-reaching work that the Greater London Authority has done to serve the capital over the last two decades.
“Its size and role have expanded over the twenty years since it was created and will continue to do so. The GLA has firmly established itself in the lives of Londoners, so now it should be able to establish a firm civic identity.
“That is why I am urging the Mayor and the Chair of the London Assembly to ask for the GLA to be able to take on the previously abolished Greater London Council’s coat of arms.”
Tony Arbour AM, who seconded the motion, said: “2020 is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Greater London Authority and this institution will soon have existed longer than its predecessor, the Greater London Council. It is therefore the right time for the arms of the GLC to be transferred to the GLA.
“This will demonstrate that the GLA is an established and valuable institution for all Londoners.”
