Deputy Mayor of London

Statutory Deputy Mayor of London
Incumbent Joanne McCartney since 9 May 2016
Member of	Greater London Authority London Mayoral Cabinet
Seat	City Hall, London
Appointer	Mayor of London
Constituting instrument	Greater London Authority Act 1999, s 2(1)(a)
Inaugural holder	Nicky Gavron
Website	www.london.gov.uk/about-us/mayor-london

A Deputy Mayor is a member of the London Mayoral cabinet, in the executive arm of the Greater London Authority. They serve as political advisors with responsibilities and powers corresponding to portfolios delegated by the Mayor. One of them must be designated as the Statutory Deputy Mayor, a member of the London Assembly who serves as the temporary Mayor during a vacancy or temporary incapacity of the Mayor.^[1]

History

Colour key (for political parties):   Labour   Conservative   Green   Independent

Current or final office holders of a mayoralty are highlighted in bold.

Livingstone mayoralties

The 2000 London mayoral election was won by Ken Livingstone, who ran as an independent after being expelled from the Labour Party. He announced that he would rotate the position of deputy mayor equally between the four parties represented in the London Assembly (London Labour, London Conservatives, London Liberal Democrats and the London Green Party).^[2] He offered the role to Nicky Gavron of the Labour Party for the first year. After some political manoeuvring, she accepted.^[3]

However, in 2001, Ken Livingstone decided not to offer the role to the Conservatives, claiming it would be disruptive,^[2] so Nicky Gavron retained the post. In 2002 the Liberal Democrats were asked to nominate a candidate but declined, saying that it would be better to scrutinise the mayor from an independent position.^[2][4] Again Nicky Gavron remained. In 2003, the Greens accepted an offer to nominate a deputy mayor and selected Jenny Jones, who became London's second deputy mayor.^[2]

Nicky Gavron was originally chosen as the Labour candidate for the 2004 London mayoral election but she stepped aside when Ken Livingstone was invited to rejoin the party. They then ran on a joint ticket as Labour's candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor. She served as Ken Livingstone's deputy for the duration of his second term.

In his first term, Ken Livingstone came under fire for delegating his powers to his chief of staff, Simon Fletcher, rather than the deputy mayor on several occasions.^[5]

Livingstone Statutory Deputy Mayors

Portfolio	Deputy Mayor		Term
Statutory Deputy Mayor		Nicky Gavron AM	2000–2003
		Jenny Jones AM	2003–2004
		Nicky Gavron AM	2004–2008

Johnson mayoralties

After Boris Johnson became Mayor of London in May 2008, he appointed Richard Barnes^[6] as his statutory Deputy Mayor, with the specific responsibility for community cohesion and regeneration. However, he also gave the title of Deputy Mayor to several other people, each with a specific role: Ian Clement (Government Relations); Kit Malthouse (Policing); and Ray Lewis (Young People).^[7]

Sir Simon Milton, a former councillor, served as Deputy Mayor of Policy and Planning and Chief of Staff to Johnson until his death in office in 2011. In May 2011, Sir Edward Lister was then appointed as his successor. Richard Barnes ceased to be Deputy Mayor on 4 May 2012, when he lost his seat in the Assembly. Victoria Borwick succeeded him in the post.^[8][9] Borwick resigned in May 2015, following her election as Member of Parliament for Kensington, being succeeded by Roger Evans.^[10]

Johnson mayoral cabinet

Portfolio	Deputy Mayor		Term
First Johnson mayoralty
Statutory Deputy Mayor Communities, Cohesion and Regeneration		Richard Barnes AM	2008–2012
Policing		Kit Malthouse AM	2008–2012
Transport		Isabel Dedring	2008–2012
Policy and Planning		Simon Milton	2008–2011
		Edward Lister	2011–2012
Young People		Ray Lewis	2008
Government and External Relations		Ian Clement	2008–2009
Second Johnson mayoralty
Statutory Deputy Mayor		Victoria Borwick AM	2012–2015
		Roger Evans AM	2015–2016
Business and Enterprise		Kit Malthouse AM	2012–2015
Housing, Land and Property		Richard Blakeway	2012–2016
Policing and Crime		Stephen Greenhalgh	2012–2016
Policy and Planning		Edward Lister	2012–2016
Education and Culture		Munira Mirza	2012–2016
Transport		Isabel Dedring	2012–2016

Khan mayoralty

The 2016 London mayoral election was won by Sadiq Khan for London Labour.^[11] Following the election, he appointed Joanne McCartney Statutory Deputy Mayor, along with nine additional deputy mayors, making Khan the first mayor to use all ten available Deputy Mayor spots.

Khan mayoral cabinet

Portfolio	Deputy Mayor		Term
Statutory Deputy Mayor Education and Childcare		Joanne McCartney AM	2016–present
Policing and Crime		Sophie Linden	2016–present
Fire and Resilience		The Baroness Twycross AM	2018–present
Housing and Residential Development		James Murray	2016–2019
		Tom Copley AM	2020–present
Planning, Regeneration and Skills		Jules Pipe	2016–present
Social Integration, Social Mobility, Community Engagement		Matthew Ryder	2016–2018
		Deborah Weekes-Bernard	2018–present
Business		Rajesh Agrawal	2016–present
Culture and Creative Industries		Justine Simons	2016–present
Environment and Energy		Shirley Rodrigues	2016–2024
Transport		Val Shawcross	2016–2018
		Heidi Alexander	2018–2021
		Seb Dance	2021–Present

References

1. Greater London Authority Act 1999 sch 4 s 4(1)
2. Clark, Andrew (19 February 2003). "Greens select Livingstone's deputy". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
3. "Labour deputy joins Livingstone". BBC News. 16 May 2000. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
4. Featherstone, Lynne (16 May 2002). "All change for the Tories". lynnefeatherstone.org. Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 26 July 2014. Other hot news – the Liberal Democrat group has turned down the Mayor's offer of the deputy mayor post. Our job is to keep an eye on him – and that is better done from an independent position. It would have been nice – but just not practicable.
5. "Mayor leaves London in hands of adviser". London Assembly. 13 June 2002. Archived from the original on 22 October 2003. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
6. "Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor of London".
7. "Boris Johnson announces further senior appointments to his administration". Greater London Authority. 6 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
8. "Victoria Borwick named new Deputy Mayor of London".
9. "Investment providing platform for economic growth". Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
10. www.mayorwatch.co.uk
11. "Sadiq Khan: Global figures and media react to London mayoral victory". 7 May 2016.