The Role of business in London local and regional government: How it became recognised as a significant player

Abstract

This paper describes the increasing influence of business groups and interests in shaping analyses of London's economic performance and strategies for change during the period between the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986 and the formation of the Greater London Authority in 2000. By the time the GLA was established, an assumption of the primacy of ‘business leadership’ had become routine within a range of partnerships, and extended to the leadership of executive agencies of the GLA, such as the London Development Agency. Subsequently the Mayor himself has been careful to embrace business leaders, and to build on the business–local government relationships developed initially with the cities of London and of Westminster and groups representing the boroughs in such non-statutory bodies as the former London Pride Partnership.