Looking into
the Ward from the West
The City of London (also known as 'the Square Mile') is a Local
Authority providing Local Authority services to the residents and
workers it serves. Like any Local Authority it is divided for
electoral purposes into Wards. The City of London has 25
Wards, each of which are represented by an Alderman and
between 2 and 10 Common Councilmen.
The City is often described as 'unique'. It is different in many
ways from the typical Local Authority. In the City, the local
population of approximately 10,000 residents is swelled by in
excess of 300,000 workers who commute to the City every working
day.
The City (principally through the Lord Mayor and Chairman of
Policy and Resources) speaks up internationally for UK based
financial and professional services businesses. It manages
thousands of acres of open space within London and beyond (eg
Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches) as well as three
markets (Smithfield for meat, Billingsgate for fish and New
Spitalfields (fruit and veg). The City also manages the Heathrow
Animal Reception Centre as well as the Barbican Arts Centre and the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama (the last two both in the Ward
of Cripplegate), as well as running its own police force, the
leading national police force for dealing with economic crime.
Electoral reform
The City of London gave a
number of parliamentary undertakings to secure wider electoral
reform than was provided for in the City of London (Ward Elections)
Act, the legislation promoted by the City Corporation to change the
City’s electoral system. These included a commitment to review the
boundaries of the four residential Wards to preserve their
residential character, and a further pledge to review the
boundaries of the remaining Wards.
The first boundary review was undertaken in 2003 and as part of
that process, the City of London Corporation reduced the number of
its Members (Common Councilmen). The second review took place in
2010 and was completed in November that year with the new
boundaries coming into effect from 2013, the year the next full
Ward elections are to be held.
A number of other City Wards also have their own websites. To
access the existing sites, please go to
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/wards