Andrew Stevens UK Research Fellow Andrew Stevens is UK Research Fellow at the City Mayors Foundation. He works as researcher on urban policy and adviser on city government. Contacting Andrew Stevens by email: editor@citymayors.com Please insert 'Andrew Stevens' in the subject line.
FRONT PAGE About us CITY MAYORS AUTHORS Moshe Adler Rodrigo Aguilar Benignos Prakash M Apte Brian Baker Harri Baskoro A Markus Berensson Paulo Botas Kevin Bourne Jacek Bruchal Guy Burton Victor Chuah Urs Enke Mayraj Fahim Tony Favro Josh Fecht Marie Fleury Gregor Gosciniak Anupam Gupta S A Hafiz Tann vom Hove David Jennings Guy Kervella Irmelind Kirchner Adriana Maciel José Pablo Melaza Baldemar Méndez Antonio Alexander Moore Brian Moore Agaton Navarro Robert O'Connor Vanessa Plihal Rodrigo M Queiroga Subir Roy Jonas Schorr Andrew Stevens Nick Swift Jens Tessmann Matej Trávnícek Emma Vandore Alidad Vassigh Kevin Visdeloup		Articles by Andrew Stevens | Government | Politics | Mayors | City Hall | GOVERNMENT Local government in Japan In a country more recently associated with a spate of natural disasters and decades of economic slump ahead of hosting its deferred Olympic Games in 2021, the Japanese system of local government has bedded down well with the guarantee of local autonomy enshrined in its post-war constitution. As with other historic aspects of Japanese society, there remains an appreciable level of civic pride among many people and interest in community affairs remains strong. MORE History and many post-war reforms shape local government in the UK There is no single pattern of local government in the United Kingdom. Instead arrangements vary in the four ‘home nations’ of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Wales and urban England, with the exception of London, single-tier unitary authorities provide all local services, whereas non-metropolitan England is served by a two-tier system split between district and county councils. MORE World mayors, their parties and politics Well into the second decade of this century, the global pattern of urbanization remains wedded to governance by mayors and city leaders of differing political colours. In this biennial survey of urban political allegiances (since 2009), City Mayors examines the role of partisan politics in how mayors are chosen to lead the world's largest cities, even in what is occasionally termed an anti-political era. Europe recorded a number of minor upsets to the established order since the last survey, but the bigger story here is perhaps the clean sweep witnessed in Latin America of parties of the centre-right. MORE Local government in Ireland British with a distinct Irish accent Local government in the Republic of Ireland predates its national political structures, with the constitutional arrangements laid down under British rule in the late nineteenth century remaining in place. Ireland’s local government arrangements consisted until recently of 29 county and county borough councils with a set of smaller town and in some cases borough councils at the sub-tier. A big bang reorganisation in 2014 saw this number streamlined and flattened into 31 all-purpose local authorities through a series of mergers, in response to Ireland’s recent economic and political crisis. MORE The City of London offers on one square mile history, feudal governance and global finance The landmarks of the area covered by the historic City of London Corporation are known to many – St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey, the ‘Gherkin’ and soon the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and the ‘Cheesegrater’, to name but few – but less is known about the Corporation itself. The City of London is often confused with Greater London (the area covered by the Greater London Authority), but the two concepts are indeed very distinct and separate. MORE POLITICS World mayors, their parties and politics The narrative of the global pattern of urbanization is that we are said to live in the ‘urban century’ and the ‘age of the mayor’. Current affairs weeklies nod with approval at mayor-centred urban analysis by Richard Florida, Benjamin Barber and Bruce Katz – city rankings now enjoy the kind of media glow once reserved for corporate giants. But who gets to govern the world’s biggest cities? City Mayors examines the shifts in urban political allegiances and party machines over the past five years. MORE MAYORS Local government in England and directly elected Mayors In London and several metropolitan areas, England’s cities are led by elected Mayors, while in all but 15 of the 309 local councils in England are run by a Council Leader elected by their fellow councillors. Since 2002 a number have been led by mayors elected directly by local voters. Most of the local authority elected mayors in England have responsibility for all local services, with two district council mayors responsible for only environment, planning and housing. In London and the metro area Combined Authorities, the Mayor is responsible for transport, economic development, skills and spatial planning, as well as other fields as devolved. All England’s elected mayors are elected on four-year terms by the instant run-off Supplementary Vote. There are no elected mayors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. RESEARCH following May 2021 elections. Britain’s public service ethos curbs elected mayors’ salaries November 2019: In the UK local politics is seen as community service rather than a professional career and this is reflected in the salaries paid to elected mayors. By contrast, senior officials in city administrations are often paid more than double the mayor’s salary. For instance, the new Metro Mayor of the Tees Valley receives a modest £37,000 per year, yet the authority’s chief executive takes home a more impressive £135,000, collecting almost £100,000 more. MORE Japanese Mayors Japan, the world’s third-largest economy by GDP and 10th largest population, is a unitary state, governed at national level by a Prime Minister and Cabinet largely chosen from the bicameral National Diet.  The two-tier local government system in Japan is composed of 47 prefectural governments (roughly akin to a county), each headed by a directly-elected Governor (elected on a four-year term) and 1,719 municipalities, each headed by a directly-elected Mayor. MORE. CITY HALLS London City Hall It could be considered unusual to preface an article about one building with a commentary on another but the history of city government in the English capital is an unusual one.  But to begin to examine the current headquarters of the Greater London Authority’s City Hall, we should first consider the original home of London government, County Hall. MORE Follow @City_Mayors