Powers and responsibilities of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor

London is one of the largest cities in the world, and as such, the welfare of those within it should be protected. This responsibility has been given to the Greater London Authority, whose duty is to ensure that everything in the city functions efficiently for the benefit of the people of London. The chairman of the Greater London Authority (GLA) is the Mayor of London, and under his leadership, the GLA has the responsibility of making sure that the various divisions of the local authorities within its jurisdiction are well coordinated. The powers over the local authorities of Greater London can be considered to be similar, or equal, to those given to the City of London Corporation, and also the same as those of the local authorities in the boroughs of London. The Mayor of London has the power to create or influence policies and strategies which deal directly with the improvement of the services within the entire city (Tewdwr-Jones, 2011, 57).

This power can be said to carry five principal responsibilities which the Mayor has to carry out as part of his duties. The first of these is that he has to come up with strategies aimed at ensuring that the entire city is moving in the right direction and that these strategies have been implemented correctly. The second responsibility, which he has, is to look at all the needs of the city within a given financial year, and formulating a budget for these needs, which he must present to the Assembly where it will further be discussed. The third responsibility of the mayor is to be the ambassador of the city, not only within the country, but also abroad, and as such, he must present the best image of the city. As the ambassador of the city, he must ensure that London is presented as a city full of diversity as well as welcoming to all those who wish to invest within it. His fourth responsibility is to coordinate with the other bodies in the GLA to ensure that all the strategies, which have been proposed for the city, are put in place so that the city is able to run smoothly. The final prime responsibility of the Mayor of London is to make appointments to those bodies which he chairs as well as to other bodies, which function for the good of London.