Minister for London

History

London had been under the authority of the London County Council and then the Greater London Council, but Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986 after clashes with its leader, Ken Livingstone. Most of the municipal powers were then devolved to the 32 individual boroughs. Under John Major, however, the need for more centralised organisation was addressed by a series of moves. John Gummer was appointed Minister of London concurrently with his tenure as Secretary of State for Environment, and in 1994 the Government Office for London was established. After Tony Blair entered office, the Labour government set up an elected Mayor of London. This office, along with a reconstituted Greater London Authority, worked with the Minister and the Government Office.

The post was scrapped by David Cameron after he came to office in 2010. In 2016 however, the post was revived by Theresa May and was assigned to Gavin Barwell.