Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998

The Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998 (c. 3) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which made legal provision for the holding of a non-binding referendum in Greater London on whether there should be a democratically elected Assembly for London and a separately elected Mayor for London.[1][2]

Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to make provision for the holding of a referendum on the establishment of a Greater London Authority and for expenditure in preparation for such an Authority; and to confer additional functions on the Local Government Commission for England in connection with the establishment of such an Authority.
Citation1998 c. 3
Introduced byJohn Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Territorial extent England
Dates
Royal assent23 February 1998
Status: Spent
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Act

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The Act legislated for the holding of a non-binding referendum to be held on 7 May 1998 in Greater London on whether there should be a democratically elected London Assembly and a separately elected Mayor for London and legislates for the appointment a Chief Counting Officer to oversee the referendum.

The referendum

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The act legislated for a non binding referendum to be held in Greater London on 7 May 1998 on the issue of a Greater London Authority and enables the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to appoint a Chief Counting Officer to oversee the referendum.

Referendum question

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The question that appeared on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate under the act 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.

Counting areas

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The 33 London Boroughs would be used as the counting areas for the referendum.

Result

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All 33 London boroughs voted "Yes" in the referendum.
Greater London Authority referendum, 1998
Result
Choice Votes %
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%

Outcome

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Following the successful outcome of the vote the Greater London Authority Act 1999 was passed by the UK Parliament and the Authority came into being following elections in 2000.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Greater London Authority (Referendum) Act 1998".
  2. ^ "Greater London Authority (Referendum) Bill". 29 October 1997.