Editing Greater London Council (section)

==Composition and political control==
[[File:Lccchamber.jpg|thumb|Council Chamber of the GLC, from the majority benches]]
Each of the six GLC elections was won by the leading national opposition party, with the party in government nationally coming second in the GLC elections.<ref name=demon>{{cite web|url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glcresults.html|title=GLC Election Results Summaries|publisher=Election Demon|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=1 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901230825/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glcresults.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first GLC election was on 9 April 1964. Each of the new boroughs elected a number of representatives under the [[plurality-at-large voting|bloc vote]] system. Despite Conservative hopes, the first GLC consisted of 64 Labour and 36 Conservative councillors<ref name=demon/> and Labour Group leader [[Bill Fiske]] became the first Leader of the council.<ref name=demonhistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glccomment.html|title=Electoral History of the Greater London Council|publisher=Election Demon|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923235247/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glccomment.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the next election in 1967 the unpopularity of the national Labour government produced a massive Conservative victory with 82 seats, to Labour's 18.<ref name=demon/> [[Desmond Plummer]] became the first Conservative leader of London-wide government in 33 years. The Conservatives retained control in 1970 with a reduced majority.<ref name=demonhistory/>

In 1972 the electoral system was reformed to introduce [[single-member constituencies]] for the election after the 1973 contest, and extend the term of office to four years. Labour fought the 1973 election on a strongly socialist platform and won with 58 seats to 32 for the Conservatives. The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] won two seats.<ref name=demon/>

The GLC's hopes under the Labour administration of [[Reg Goodwin]] were badly affected by the oil crisis of 1974. Massive inflation, combined with the GLC's £1.6&nbsp;billion debt, led to heavy rate increases (200% in total before the next election in 1977) and unpopular budget cuts. Some months before the 1977 elections the Labour Group began to split. A left group, including [[Ken Livingstone]], denounced the election manifesto of the party.<ref name=demonhistory/>

The Conservatives regained control in May 1977, winning 64 seats under their new [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcherite]] leader [[Horace Cutler]] against a Labour total of just 28. Cutler headed a resolutely right-wing administration, cutting spending, selling [[council housing]] and deprioritising London Transport. In opposition the Labour Party continued to fractionalise: Goodwin resigned suddenly in 1980 and in the following leadership contest the little-regarded left-winger Ken Livingstone was only just beaten in an intensely tactical campaign by the moderate [[Andrew McIntosh, Baron McIntosh of Haringey|Andrew McIntosh]]. However, the Labour left were strong at constituency level and as the 1981 election approached they worked to ensure that their members were selected to stand and that their democratic socialist anti-austerity convictions shaped the [[manifesto]].<ref name=demonhistory/>

The May 1981 election was presented as a clash of ideologies by the Conservatives – [[Thatcherism]] against a "tax high, spend high" [[Marxist]] Labour group, claiming that [[Lord McIntosh of Haringey|Andrew McIntosh]] would be deposed by Ken Livingstone after the election. McIntosh and Labour Party leader [[Michael Foot]] insisted this was untrue, and Labour won a very narrow victory with a majority of six. At a pre-arranged meeting of the new Councillors the day after the election, the Left faction won a complete victory over the less-organised Labour right. McIntosh lost with 20 votes to 30 for Ken Livingstone. Livingstone, dubbed "Red Ken" by some newspapers, managed to gain the guarded support of the Labour deputy leader [[Illtyd Harrington]] and the party Chief Whip and set about his new administration. Livingstone's deputy leader of the GLC from 1985 to 1986 was [[John McDonnell]], future [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]] under [[Jeremy Corbyn]]. Livingstone's Technology Director was [[Mike Cooley (engineer)|Mike Cooley]] who established The Greater London Enterprise Board (GLEB).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/apr/06/londonmayor.uk|date=6 April 2000|title=The good old days|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Hilary|last=Wainwright|author-link=Hilary Wainwright|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=26 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426022537/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/apr/06/londonmayor.uk|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Elections to the GLC===
The first election was held on 9 April 1964, a year before the creation of the council. Subsequent elections were held every three years for a three-year term in 1967, 1970 and 1973. The first three elections were for 100 councillors from 32 multi-member constituencies. This was revised to 92 councillors from single-member constituencies from the 1973 election. The electoral cycle was switched to four-yearly in 1976 and those elected in 1973 had their term extended by another year.<ref name="Order 1976">{{cite web |title=The London Councillors Order 1976 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1976/213/pdfs/uksi_19760213_en.pdf |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=25 July 2023 |date=17 February 1976}}</ref> Elections were held for a four-year term in 1977 and 1981. In 1984 the elections that were due to happen in 1985 were cancelled and those elected in 1981 had their term extended by another year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government (Interim Provisions) Act 1984 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/53/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=25 July 2023 |date=31 July 1984 |quote=No ordinary elections of councillors of the Greater London Council or for a metropolitan county shall be held after the coming into force of this Part of this Act; and any such councillor— (a)whose term of office would, apart from this section, expire on 7th May 1985; or (b)who is elected to fill a vacancy occurring after that date,shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until 1st April 1986}}</ref> The results were as follows:<ref name=demon/>
{| class="wikitable" style="clear:both"
|
| colspan="2" |'''Overall control'''
| '''[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]'''
| '''[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]'''
| '''[[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]'''
|-
| [[1981 Greater London Council election|1981]]
| style="background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}; width: 7px" |
| Labour
| 41
| 50
| 1
|-
| [[1977 Greater London Council election|1977]]
| style="background:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|
| Conservative
| 64
| 28
| –
|-
| [[1973 Greater London Council election|1973]]
| style="background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|
| Labour
| 32
| 58
| 2
|-
| [[1970 Greater London Council election|1970]]
| style="background:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|
| Conservative
| 65
| 35
| –
|-
| [[1967 Greater London Council election|1967]]
| style="background:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|
| Conservative
| 82
| 18
| –
|-
| [[1964 Greater London Council election|1964]]
| style="background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|
| Labour
| 36
| 64
| –
|-
|}

===Aldermanic elections===
In addition to the councillors, there were [[aldermen]] elected by the council at the ratio of one alderman to every six councillors. Initially there were 100 councillors and sixteen aldermen elected by the council. The eight aldermen elected with the fewest votes in 1964 were for a three year term and other eight had a six year term. Eight aldermen were elected for a six year term in 1967 and 1970. In 1973, to coincide with the reduction in the number of councillors to 92, the number of aldermen was reduced to fifteen and seven aldermen were elected by the council that year. In 1976 the post of alderman was abolished, taking effect from the 1977 election. Aldermen elected in 1970 had their term extended to seven years and those elected 1973 had their term shortened to four years.<ref name="Order 1976"/>