Greater London Assembly

Government Plans to change London's voting system back to FPTP

The London Assembly is made up of 25 Members - 11 represent the whole capital and 14 are elected by London’s constituencies. The 14 constituencies are made up of two or more local authorities, for example; Barnet and Camden make up one constituency.

The Assembly acts as the eyes and ears of Londoners at City Hall. Members hold the Mayor to account by examining Mayoral strategies, decisions and actions to make sure they are in the public interest. They champion Londoners’ concerns by investigating important issues and pressing for changes to national, Mayoral or local policy. They also have the power to reject strategies and make changes to budgets when two-thirds of Assembly Members agree. The Mayor is questioned by the Assembly 10 times a year at Mayor’s Question Time.

What are the Mayor and London Assembly not responsible for?

London’s councils, rather than the Mayor or London Assembly, are directly responsible for many of the services Londoners experience day-to-day like council housing, schools, social services, rubbish collection, street cleaning, parking permits, council tax collection and birth, death and marriage certificates.

Central government leads on the NHS, welfare and most forms of taxation.

How are London Assembly (constituency) Member results calculated?

The 14 London Assembly (constituency) Members are elected using the ‘first past the post system’.

This means the candidate in each constituency with the most votes is elected as a London Assembly (constituency) Member.

Read more about the key stages of the count process.

How are London Assembly (London-wide) Member results calculated?

The 11 Assembly (London-wide) Members are elected using a form of ‘proportional representation’: this system is used to ensure the overall Assembly reflects how London voted. This means that these Assembly seats cannot be allocated until the constituency results have been announced.

The 11 seats are allocated using a mathematical formula – the ‘Modified d’Hondt Formula’. The formula uses the votes cast in the London Assembly (London-wide) Member contest and takes account of the number of London Assembly (constituency) Member seats that each political party has already won.

11 rounds of calculations then take place to fill the 11 vacant Assembly Member seats, with the party or independent candidate with the highest result at each round being allocated the seat. Seats won by parties are allocated to party candidates in the order they appeared on the relevant party’s list of candidates.