Editing Greater London Council (section)

==Abolition==
[[Ken Livingstone]]'s high-spend socialist policies put the GLC into direct conflict with [[Margaret Thatcher]]’s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government. Livingstone soon became a thorn in the side of the sitting Conservative government. He antagonised Thatcher through a series of actions: these included posting a billboard of London's rising unemployment figures on the side of [[County Hall, London|County Hall]] (directly opposite [[Palace of Westminster|Parliament]]), as well as the [[Fares Fair]] policy of reducing [[London Underground|Tube]] and bus fares using government subsidies, and meeting [[Sinn Féin]] MP [[Gerry Adams]] at a time when Adams was banned from entering Great Britain due to his links with the [[Provisional IRA]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2016/04/29/news/ken-livingstone-has-also-faced-controversy-over-views-on-ireland-502106/|title=Ken Livingstone has also faced controversy over views on Ireland|newspaper=The Irish News|first=Suzanne|last=McGonagle|date=29 April 2016|access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>

By 1983, the government argued for the abolition of the GLC, claiming that it was inefficient and unnecessary, and that its functions could be carried out more efficiently by the boroughs.<ref name="BBC.GLC"/> The arguments for this case which were detailed in the [[White Paper]] ''[[Streamlining the cities]]''. Critics of this position argued that the GLC's abolition (as with that of the [[metropolitan county council]]s) was politically motivated, claiming that it had become a powerful vehicle for opposition to Margaret Thatcher's government. Livingstone and three other Labour councillors resigned in protest, and won back their seats easily in the September 1984 by-elections because the Conservatives refused to stand.<ref name=Rallings>{{cite book|title=Local Elections in Britain.|url=https://archive.org/details/localelectionsbr00rall|url-access=limited|date=1997|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London|isbn=9780203412756|page=[https://archive.org/details/localelectionsbr00rall/page/n184 172]|last1=Rallings|first1=Colin|author-link=Colin Rallings|last2=Thrasher|first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Thrasher}}</ref><ref name="Guardian"/>

The [[Local Government Act 1985]], which abolished the GLC, faced considerable opposition from many quarters but was narrowly passed in Parliament, setting the end of the council for 31 March 1986. It also cancelled the scheduled May 1985 elections. GLC assets were assigned to the [[London Residuary Body]] for disposal, including County Hall, which was sold to a Japanese entertainment company and now houses the [[London Aquarium]] and the [[London Dungeon]], amongst other things.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/japanese-win-fight-for-county-hall-1553739.html|title=Japanese win fight for County Hall|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|first=Nicholas|last=Timmins|author-link=Nicholas Timmins|date=26 September 1992|access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>

The [[Inner London Education Authority]] (ILEA) continued in existence for a few years, and direct elections to it were held, but ILEA was finally also disbanded in 1990, with the Inner London boroughs assuming control over education as the outer boroughs had done on their creation in 1965.<ref name=ilea/>