Do you know what the London Assembly is?
People across London are casting their vote for London Mayor today, but that’s not all they will be voting for – so what is the London Assembly?
The polls are open for the local elections across the UK and Londoners will have three ballots to fill out today: one for the London mayoral candidates and two for members of the London Assembly.
One of these ballot papers will allow voters to select a member at a constituency level, and the other is for a London-wide assembly member.
The Greater London Authority (GLA) is made up of the London Assembly as well as the Mayor of London, and is the name given to the top of the chain of London politics.
But what exactly is it?
The London Assembly is made up of 25 members, who are elected at the same time as the Mayor.
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The membership of the London Assembly is split in two – 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.
Here is a list of all the constituencies:
You can see all the Assembly constituencies on this map.
The main role of the London Assembly is to hold the Mayor of London accountable, acting as the eyes and ears of Londoners at City Hall.
They review proposed budgets and examine strategies to ensure the Mayor is working towards the best interests of the people of London.
The London Assembly has the power to reject strategies and make changes to budgets when two-thirds of Assembly Members agree.
They are also responsible for questioning the Mayor 10 times a year at Mayor’s Question Time.
The Mayor must consult with Londoners and their elected representatives in the London Assembly before finalising any major strategies.
When you head to the polls today, you will be met with three different ballot papers to fill out.
The pink ballot paper is for your vote for London Mayor, and you must mark a cross next to your chosen candidates.
This is different to previous elections, when voters were able to choose a first and second choice for mayor.
The change was introduced after the government passed the Elections Act in 2022, which means that the Mayor of London is now chosen using the First Past the Post voting system rather than the Supplementary Vote system.
The change applies to all directly elected mayors in England, not just the Mayor of London.
However, the way we vote for the London Assembly has not changed.
The yellow ballot paper is for selecting your London Assembly constituency member, and again you need to mark a cross next to your top choice.
The orange ballot paper is for selecting your preference for the London-wide Assembly member – you can only select one option here as well.
Remember that you will need to bring a voter ID with you to be able to vote.
You can see the list of accepted forms of voter ID on The Electoral Commission website.
While it is too late to register for this election, you can head over to gov.uk to ensure you are registered for future elections.
