Editing Greater London Authority (section)

==Headquarters==
[[File:City.hall.london.arp.jpg|thumb|[[City Hall, London (Southwark)|City Hall]] in [[Southwark]] served as the headquarters of the Greater London Authority between July 2002 and December 2021.]]
For the first two years of its existence, the Greater London Authority was based at Romney House, 47 [[Marsham Street]] in [[Westminster]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.london.gov.uk/view_press_release_a.jsp?releaseid=118 |title=Greater London Authority – Press Release |publisher=Legacy.london.gov.uk |date=15 March 2001 |access-date=2012-08-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821125800/http://legacy.london.gov.uk/view_press_release_a.jsp?releaseid=118 |archive-date=21 August 2012}}</ref> Meetings of the London Assembly took place at Emmanuel Centre, also on Marsham Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/assemmtgs/2000/assem24may/agenda_24-05_2.jsp |title=London Assembly meeting – 24 May 2000 |publisher=Legacy.london.gov.uk |access-date=2012-08-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817034524/http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/assemmtgs/2000/assem24may/agenda_24-05_2.jsp |archive-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

Between July 2002 and December 2021, the Greater London Authority was based at a building known as [[City Hall, London (Southwark)|City Hall]] in [[Southwark]], on the banks of the [[River Thames]], close to [[Tower Bridge]]. City Hall was designed by Norman Foster and constructed at a cost of £43 million<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache%3AIjw0_MjOtlMJ%3Awww.scottish.parliament.uk%2Fbusiness%2Fresearch%2Fbriefings-04%2Fsb04-60.pdf+construction+cost+of+GLA+city+hall&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi4vu_Sk2l-MlW8fgbTuCZEj |title="SPICe Briefing" Retrieved 2010-03-01 |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414162722/https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache%3AIjw0_MjOtlMJ%3Awww.scottish.parliament.uk%2Fbusiness%2Fresearch%2Fbriefings-04%2Fsb04-60.pdf+construction+cost+of+GLA+city+hall&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi4vu_Sk2l-MlW8fgbTuCZEj |url-status=live }}</ref> on a site formerly occupied by [[Wharf|wharves]] serving the [[Pool of London]]. This building did not belong to the GLA but was leased under a 25-year rental agreement from the [[Kuwait Investment Authority]].<ref>[http://www.london.gov.uk/learning/docs/inside_city_hall.pdf "Inside City Hall" Retrieved 2010-03-01] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604132134/http://www.london.gov.uk/learning/docs/inside_city_hall.pdf |date=4 June 2011 }}</ref>

In November 2020, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced plans to vacate City Hall at the end of 2021 and relocate to [[The Crystal]] in the [[Canning Town]] area of [[East London]]. The Crystal building is owned by the Greater London Authority and is currently under-occupied. City Hall was not owned by the authority itself and the proposed move would save the Greater London Authority £12.6 million a year in rental costs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/sadiq-khan-announces-plan-leave-18479216|title=Sadiq Khan announces plan to leave City Hall and move to East London|first=Qasim|last=Peracha|date=24 June 2020|website=getwestlondon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/london/2020-06-24/londons-iconic-city-hall-set-to-close-in-a-shock-plan-to-save-11m-a-year/|title=London's iconic City Hall set to close in a shock plan to save £11m a year|website=ITV News|date=24 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |last1=Bynon |first1=Theodora |year=2016 |title=London's Name |journal= Transactions of the Philological Society |volume=114 |issue=3 |pages=281–97 |doi=10.1111/1467-968X.12064}}</ref> The decision was confirmed on 3 November 2020. Newham Borough Council gave permission for a change of use for the building in December 2020.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 November 2020|title=City Hall to relocate from central London to the East End|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-54783565|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Jonathan|date=11 December 2020|title=City Hall move to The Crystal given thumbs-up|url=https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/newham-approves-city-hall-move-to-the-crystal-6659562|website=Newham Recorder}}</ref> The authority vacated City Hall on 2 December 2021 and the move is due to completed in the first week of January 2022.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite tweet|number=1466443976051933186|user=LondonAssembly|title=.@LondonAssembly Members gather for a final goodbye City Hall photo, after the last meeting. We'll see you at th…|date=2 December 2021}}</ref> The Crystal was renamed "City Hall" in December 2021.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yor4DAAAQBAJ |title=Finance Masters: A Brief History of International Financial Centers in the Last Millennium |last=Coispeau |first=Olivier |date=2016 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-310-884-4}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/khan-approves-move-gla-from-fosters-city-hall-to-wilkinsoneyres-crystal|title=Khan approves GLA move from Foster's City Hall to WilkinsonEyre's Crystal|date=4 November 2020}}</ref>

In addition to City Hall, staff of the Greater London Authority are also based at Palestra House on [[Blackfriars Road]] and at the London Fire Brigade headquarters on [[Union Street, London|Union Street]], both in [[Southwark]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/10324|title = Greater London Authority could move City Hall to Royal Docks}}</ref>

The predecessors of the Greater London Authority, the [[Greater London Council]] and the [[London County Council]], had their headquarters at [[County Hall, London|County Hall]], upstream on the [[South Bank]]. Although County Hall's old council chamber is still intact, the building is unavailable for use by the GLA because of its conversion into, among other things, a luxury hotel, amusement arcade and aquarium.<ref>
{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/a-fishy-day-out-at-the-new-london-aquarium-d7l3x0rs0g7
|title=A fishy day out at the new London Aquarium|last=Buchanan|first=Rhoda|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=8 April 2009|access-date=12 June 2011}}</ref>