Leadership in London: from Government to Governance

International audienceThe leadership of London became a priority in the 1990s and was one of New Labour's commitments in the build-up to the 1997 General Elections. To succeed, high level political involvement was vital and although New Labour's leadership threw its entire weight behind the project, little heed was paid to the possible outcome of the first mayoral elections. Indeed, against all the odds, London's Ken Livingstone became the first directly elected mayor, won again in 2004 but lost to the Conservative candidate Boris Johnson in 2008 and again in 2012. He had nevertheless created a style of leadership based on his particular brand of celebrity that his successor fully embraced, but in his own fashion. Whereas Livingstone wore out his welcome, Johnson used the mayoralty more unashamedly as a springboard for self-promotion. His two mandates came to a logical close in 2016 when he was replaced by Sadiq Khan whose expertise in communication has cut London politics adrift from the world of celebrity while engaging more rigorously in the process of replacing local government by local governance