The interests of national Government in London are represented by the Government Office for London which is responsible for co-ordinating the policies and efforts of 11 government bodies including the Home Office, Department of Transport and Department of Health.
It also plays a important role in feeding back London’s views to Whitehall to help shape upcoming legislation and advises local councils on the delivery and implementation of central Government policy.
The office also co-ordinates efforts to ensure London is fully prepared for any emergency.
Within the Government Office for London there are five teams dealing with specific geographic regions of the capital, the regions are based on the borders of local boroughs.
The office provides the London Development Agency’s annual funding and more than £2bn per year to Transport for London.
In all there are 9 Government Offices for regions, the others are East Midlands, East of England, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and The Humber. London is the only city to a dedicated Government Office.
There is also a Minister for London who is responsible for reporting to Parliament on central Government work in the capital. The current Minister is Tessa Jowell who was appointed in 2007.
More information: www.gos.gov.uk/gol
Elected Representation in London
London elects 74 MPs to the UK Parliament (Westminster) under the ‘first past the post’ system. Each MP usually represents a political party but may be elected as an independent candidate.
(View a list of all London MPs – external link)
MPs are responsible for representing the interests of their constituents in Parliament and many hold regular advice surgeries where constituents can discuss issues of concern.
More information: www.parliament.uk
