h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Corporation of London
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A629246

I think this article still needs some work, but I hope a vigorous peer review will enable me to add the polish

Fascinating stuff. It's always so interesting to see how a government works when it evolves into place. Whereas most of our governments in the states are created by legislation. Unfortunatly, I don't know enough about it to say much more.

I'd probably replace the '&'s with 'and's.

One of the interesting things about local government in the City of London is that it has not evolved in any significant manner since the late medieval period, in many respects it is a genuine piece of living history.

call me vain but I liked my last posting so much I just added part of it to the entry.

It's a pretty good line.

Maybe evolved isn't quite the right word.

However, didn't they just change the system? I thought the Lord Mayor of London was appointed until very recently.

Yes & No

The Lord Mayor of the City of London is still elected in same way that he has been since 1546. (Local Government)

The Mayor of London (the conurbation) is a new job and is elected using a PR system. (Regional Government)

The 'City of London' is just a small part (approx 1 square mile) of the 'conurbation of London' (my Street map of London boast on the cover that it has 1660 square miles of mapping)

What's a conurbation?

A predominantly urban region including adjacent towns and suburbs; a metropolitan area.

(ok I admit it, I got the defination from an online dictionary)

It might make a good footenote. I think you did sort of mention the difference, but it didn't catch.

good idea, i'll get on it

This is what I got so far, its a bit clumsy so if you want to have a bash at cleaning it up feel free.

"It is important to note that the Lord Mayor of London is not the same as the Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor is Lord Mayor of the 'City of London'; the Mayor is Mayor of the 'Metropolitan County of Greater London' & Chair of the Greater London Authority, the 'City of London' is just one of the boroughs that make up the 'Metropolitan County of Greater London'."

How about this:

It is important to note that there are two distinct entities, the City of London and the Metropolitan County of Greater London. The City of London, is just one of the boroughs of metro London. It is roughly defined as the area incorporated in the Roman City of Londonium.

The Lord Mayor adminsters the City of London, and the Mayor administers the Metropolitan County of Greater London.

I think the verb adminsiter needs to be replaced though. I can't think of a better one.

I added the following para to the start of the entry
"There are two distinct entities that are 'London', the 'City of London' which is administered by the Corporation of London, and the 'Metropolitan County of Greater London' which is administered by the Greater London Authority (GLA). The 'City of London' is one the boroughs that make up the 'Metropolitan County of Greater London'. When people talk of London they are normally referring to the conurbation that is the 'Metropolitan County of London'."

And the following to the Lord Mayor section
"It is important to note that the 'Lord Mayor of London' is not the same as the 'Mayor of London'. The 'Lord Mayor of London' is the head of the Corporation of London; the 'Mayor of London' is the head of the GLA."

what do ya think ?

DOes elected mayor geezer only serve for one year?

Make that:
DOes the elected mayor geezer also only serve for one year?
vp

The paragraph is great. A Geezer would be lucky to survive the year. Electing geezers is an interesting solution to the question of term limits.

In the modern era Lord Mayor's tend to only serve for a year which is also the term they are elected for, but this wasnt always the case the city's most famous Lord Mayor, Dick Wittington served 4 times, in 1397,1398,1407 & 1420.


Off Topic.

In the UK (at least he South-east) we use the term 'Geezer' in the same way Americans apear to use the term 'Dude'.

So that makes you a HappyGeezer then ?

Interesting entry. Where do they get their funding from? Do they levy a Council Tax? Or maybe its all business rates in that area. And where does the City of Westminster fit into this or have they been abolished? Just curious really, I think the financing might be relevant to the entry though.

The City of Westminster is a borough adjacent to the City of London in the Metropolitan County of London, the City of Westminster has a more conventional form of local government.

From the Corporations web site "The Corporation's activities are funded partly through public resources, the City Fund, and partly from income from private and trust funds, City's Cash and Bridge House Estates."

If someone wants to write a paragraph or two on city financing I'll give them full credit