London referendum 98 result

saltire shield'The low referendum turnout can be attributed not to apathy but to certainty.'
Transport Minister Glenda Jackson.		Lion Rampant

London referendum 1998 - the results

Margaret Thatcher's greatest victory over democracy was the Poll Tax. Next to that came her abolition of the metropolitan councils including Ken Livingston's GLC. Now, years later, although Thatcher herself is long gone, her policies are still being implemented by Tony Blair, and Red Ken is preparing to make his political comeback as Lord Mayor of London.

Londoners said 'Yes' to a new elected mayor and a Greater London Authority - or at least some of them did. Although 72 % of those who bothered to vote said 'Yes' the turnout was only 34 %. Therefore, only 24.5 % of the electorate actually voted Yes.

English Local Government Minister Hilary Armstrong said 'I hate the low turnout' and indeed all parties have expressed concern over the low turnout - with due cause. The Yes vote was almost 10 % lower than that in the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum. Although 33 % of Scots voted for a devolved assembly, the plans were shelved due to an extremely undemocratic amendment by a Labour MP named George Cunningham, who was a rabid anti-devolutionist Scot representing an English constituency. The Cunningham amendment or '40 % rule' required at least 40 % of the electorate (including those who had died, moved house, double registered students etc) to vote in favour otherwise the bill was to be repealed.

Prime Minister Jim Callaghan has recounted in his memoirs how the then Labour government was brought to its knees by rebels in its own ranks including Cunningham and Tam Dalyell. Cunningham went down in history as the first back-bench MP since Cromwell to bring down his own government and Margaret Thatcher swept to power. Scots had to wait 18 years for another chance and voted heavily in favour of a Scottish Parliament in September 1997.

New Labour has since abandoned blatant old style ballot rigging like Doddie Cunningham's 40 % rule. However, the massive abstention has allowed the 'No' campaign to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the referendum.

However the Labour government has said it will go ahead with the proposed plans for an elected mayor and Greater London Authority in line with the landslide 'Yes' vote.

LONDONYes123071572.0 %
No47841328.0 %

BoroughTurnoutYes totalNo total
Number % Number % Number %
Barking and Dagenham 28239 25.1 20534 73.5 7406 26.5
Barnet 80695 35.7 55487 69.6 24210 30.4
Bexley 58140 35.0 36627 63.3 21195 36.7
Brent 62279 36.6 47308 78.4 13050 21.6
Bromley 90958 40.2 51410 57.1 38622 42.9
Camden 45057 33.3 36007 81.2 8348 18.8
City of London 1553 30.6 977 63.0 674 37.0
Croydon 84057 37.6 53863 64.7 29368 35.3
Ealing 69901 33.2 52348 76.5 16092 23.5
Enfield 68643 33.2 44298 67.2 21639 32.8
Greenwich 49556 32.6 36756 74.8 12356 25.2
Hackney 40080 34.5 31956 81.6 7195 18.4
Hammersmith
and Fulham		 38142 34.1 29171 77.9 8255 22.1
Haringey 44122 30.2 36295 83.8 7038 16.2
Harrow 58790 36.6 38412 68.8 17407 31.2
Havering 60667 34.2 36390 60.5 23788 39.6
Hillingdon 61602 34.8 38518 63.1 22523 36.9
Hounslow 50297 32.3 36957 74.6 12554 25.4
Islington 41278 35.0 32826 81.5 7428 18.5
Kensington
and Chelsea		 28860 28.2 20064 70.3 8469 29.7
Kingston upon Thames 42000 41.3 28612 68.7 13043 31.3
Lambeth 58792 32.0 47391 81.8 10544 18.2
Lewisham 51858 30.1 40188 78.4 11060 21.6
Merton 49572 37.9 35418 72.2 13635 27.8
Newham 41881 28.7 33084 81.4 7575 18.6
Redbridge 61878 35.6 42547 70.2 18098 29.8
Richmond upon Thames 55905 46.0 39115 70.8 16135 29.2
Southwark 62885 33.0 42196 80.7 10089 19.3
Sutton 46117 35.2 29663 64.8 16091 36.2
Tower Hamlets 44307 35.6 32630 77.5 9467 22.5
Waltham Forest 53207 34.1 38344 73.1 14090 26.9
Wandsworth 77915 39.3 57010 74.3 19695 25.7
City of Westminster 40269 31.9 28413 71.5 11334 28.5


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