1998 Greater London Authority referendum

The Greater London Authority referendum of 1998 was a referendum held in Greater London on 7 May 1998, asking whether there was support for the creation of a Greater London Authority, composed of a directly elected Mayor of London and a London Assembly to scrutinise the Mayor's actions. Voter turnout was low, at just 34.1%.[1] The referendum was held under the provisions of the Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998.

7 May 1998 (1998-05-07)

Are you in favour of the Government's proposals for a Greater London Authority, made up of an elected mayor and a separately elected assembly?

Results

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,230,759	72.01%
No	478,413	27.99%
Valid votes	1,709,172	98.49%
Invalid or blank votes	26,178	1.51%
Total votes	1,735,350	100.00%
Registered voters/turnout	5,016,064	34.6%

Results by borough

Northern Ireland border poll		1973
EC membership referendum		1975
Scottish devolution referendum		1979
Welsh devolution referendum		1979
Scottish devolution referendum		1997
Welsh devolution referendum		1997
Greater London Authority referendum		1998
NI Good Friday Agreement referendum		1998
NE England devolution referendum		2004
Welsh devolution referendum		2011
Alternative Vote referendum		2011
Scottish independence referendum		2014
EU membership referendum		2016

* UK-wide referendums in bold

Referendum question

The question that appeared on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate was:

Are you in favour of the Government's proposals for a Greater London Authority, made up of an elected mayor and a separately elected assembly?

permitting a simple YES / NO answer.

Result

Choice		Votes	%
Greater London Authority referendum, 1998 Result
	Yes	1,230,739	72.01%
	No	478,413	27.99%

Valid votes		1,709,172	98.49%
Invalid or blank votes		26,178	1.51%
Total votes		1,735,350	100.00%

Registered voters and turnout		5,016,064	34.60%

Referendum results (excluding invalid votes)
Yes 1,230,759 (72%)	No 478,413 (28%)
▲ 50%

Results by borough

Local authority	Votes		Proportion of votes		Turnout*
Local authority	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree	Turnout*
City of London	977	574	63.0	37.0	30.6
Barking and Dagenham	20,534	7,406	73.5	26.5	24.9
Barnet	55,487	24,210	69.6	30.4	35.3
Bexley	36,527	21,195	63.3	36.7	34.7
Brent	47,309	13,050	78.4	21.6	35.6
Bromley	51,410	38,662	57.1	42.9	40.2
Camden	36,007	8,348	81.2	18.8	32.8
Croydon	53,863	29,368	64.7	35.3	37.2
Ealing	52,348	16,092	76.5	23.5	37.8
Enfield	44,297	21,639	67.2	32.8	32.8
Greenwich	36,756	12,356	74.8	25.2	32.4
Hackney	31,956	7,195	81.6	18.4	33.8
Hammersmith and Fulham	29,171	8,255	77.9	22.1	33.6
Haringey	36,296	7,038	83.8	16.2	29.9
Harrow	38,412	17,407	68.8	31.2	36.0
Havering	36,390	23,788	60.5	39.5	33.8
Hillingdon	38,518	22,523	63.1	36.9	34.4
Hounslow	36,957	12,554	74.6	25.4	31.9
Islington	32,826	7,428	81.6	18.5	34.2
Kensington and Chelsea	20,064	8,469	70.3	29.7	27.9
Kingston upon Thames	28,621	13,043	68.7	31.3	41.1
Lambeth	47,391	10,544	81.8	18.2	31.7
Lewisham	40,188	11,060	78.4	21.6	29.3
Merton	35,418	13,635	72.2	27.8	37.6
Newham	33,084	7,575	81.4	18.6	27.9
Redbridge	42,547	18,098	70.2	29.8	34.9
Richmond upon Thames	39,115	16,135	70.8	29.2	44.5
Southwark	42,196	10,089	80.7	19.3	32.7
Sutton	29,653	16,091	64.8	35.2	34.9
Tower Hamlets	32,630	9,467	77.5	22.5	34.2
Waltham Forest	38,344	14,090	73.1	26.9	33.6
Wandsworth	57,010	19,695	74.3	25.7	38.7
Westminster	28,413	11,334	71.5	28.5	31.8
Totals	1,230,759	478,413	72.01	27.99	34.1%
Source: The Independent

The 'Yes' vote won in every London Borough, though support generally was larger in Inner London than in Outer London. The lowest support figures were 60.5% in Havering and 57.1% in Bromley; the greatest were 83.8% in Haringey and 81.8% in Lambeth. Income level of boroughs was even a greater factor affecting the outcome.

Aftermath

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The government passed the Greater London Authority Act 1999, creating the Greater London Authority. Elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly were held in May 2000.

References

Assiner, Nick (8 May 1998). "Overwhelming vote for mayor". BBC News.

External links

MayorWatch London Elections Guide

Elections and referendums in London
Mayor of London	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
London Assembly	2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2021 2024
Inner London Education Authority	1986
Greater London Council	1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981
London County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961
Borough Councils	1964 1968 1971 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Referendums	1998
See also Elections in London Boroughs Middlesex County Council elections

(1997 ←) 1998 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1999)
London boroughs	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth Westminster
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bristol Derby Hartlepool Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire Portsmouth Southampton Stoke-on-Trent Swindon
District councils (England)	Adur Amber Valley Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Brentwood Broadland Broxbourne Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Carlisle Cheltenham Cherwell Chester Chorley Colchester Congleton Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Daventry Eastbourne Eastleigh Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Exeter Fareham Gloucester Gosport Great Yarmouth Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Mole Valley Newcastle-under-Lyme North Hertfordshire Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Rochford Rossendale Rugby Runnymede Rushmoor Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Lakeland St Albans Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Swale Tamworth Tandridge Three Rivers Tunbridge Wells Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wyre Forest
National Assembly elections	Northern Ireland
Referendums	Greater London Authority Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement

Devolution in the United Kingdom

Devolved areas

National level	Northern Ireland Scotland Scottish devolution Wales Welsh devolution
Regional level (in England)	Combined authorities Directly elected mayoralties Greater London Authority

Referendums¹

English mayoral referendums
- London
- 1998
- 2012
North East England
- 2004
Northern Ireland
- 1998
Scotland
- 1979
- 1997
Wales
- 1979
- 1997
- 2011

Heads of devolved
governments

Devolved legislatures²

Devolved administrations³

Organisations and laws
of the legislatures and
governments of the UK
and the devolved areas

Commissions (UK Parliament)	Kilbrandon Commission Holtham Commission Silk Commission McKay Commission
Commissions (devolved legislatures)	Senedd Richard Commission Holtham Commission Thomas Commission Scottish Parliament Calman Commission Smith Commission
Referendum and devolution acts	Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998 Greater London Authority Acts 1999 2007 Northern Ireland Acts 1998 2006 Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act 1997 Wales Acts 1998 2006 2014 2017 Scotland Acts 1998 2012 2016
Select committees	Northern Ireland Affairs Scottish Affairs Welsh Affairs
Grand committees	Legislative Grand Committees (2015–2021) Northern Ireland Scottish Welsh
Departments and Territorial Offices (MOJ)	Cabinet Office - Devolution Secretariat Ministry of Justice – Devolution Directorate-General Office of the Advocate General for Scotland Northern Ireland Office Scotland Office Wales Office

Elections

Current	Agreements/Treaties Anglo-Irish Treaty Good Friday Agreement Budget Barnett formula Block grant Constitution of the United Kingdom Reserved and excepted matters West Lothian question
Proposals	Cornwall Cornish Assembly Cornish Constitutional Convention Mebyon Kernow Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament Devolved English parliament Separatism in the United Kingdom Federalism in the United Kingdom Campaign for an English Parliament Northern England Campaign for the North Yorkshire Party Other parts of Southern England Wessex Regionalist Party Scotland Full fiscal autonomy
Historical	Administrations of England English Regional Assemblies, 1998–2010 Administrations of London London County Council Greater London Council Administrations of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1974 Legislatures of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1973–74 1982–86 Northern Ireland-related legislation of the UK Parliament Ireland, 1886 Ireland, 1893 Ireland, 1914 Ireland, 1920 Irish Free State, 1922 Northern Ireland, 1974 Irish Home Rule movement Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Scotland Act 1978 Scottish Office Sunningdale Agreement Wales Act 1978 Welsh Office

1. Rejected referendums are italicised. The others were fully or partially approved.
2. There is no law-making body for any regionally devolved area.
3. Administrations of regionally devolved areas are omitted.

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