City governance
An area as unique as the City needs a unique system of administration and the City of London Corporation is the body that provides it. Older than Parliament and the model on which the Parliament at Westminster is built; the City Corporation operates on a non-party political basis through its Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Members of the Court of Common Council.
Its role, however, is not confined to local government services for the Square Mile alone; it maintains and enhances the status of the business City as a leading international financial and business centre and delivers a host of additional facilities for the benefit of London and the nation. These additional services include the provision of the world-famous Barbican Centre, five Thames bridges and over 10,000 acres of open spaces in and around London, including Epping Forest and Hampstead Heath.
The City Corporation also runs its own police force, the UK’s Central Criminal Court at Old Bailey, the quarantine station at Heathrow Airport and three wholesale food markets (Billingsgate, Spitalfields and Smithfield) which supply London and the South East with fresh produce. It is the Port Health Authority for the whole of the Thames tidal estuary and one of the most significant sponsors of the arts in the UK (behind the Government and the BBC). Many services it provides from its own investments at no expense to the taxpayer.
The City Corporation’s home is at Guildhall. Here its elected assembly – the Court of Common Council – sits and heads of state, royalty and other notable dignitaries are welcomed, be they guests at the state banquets the City Corporation hosts on behalf of central Government, attending an Honorary Freedom of the City ceremony or visitors to the many civic functions the City Corporation organises.
To find out more about the City Corporation’s governing bodies, including information about the Lord Mayor of the City of London, visit the City Corporation’s web pages and follow the links. Detailed information about the history and roles of the City’s Alderman and Sheriffs can be found by visiting a different page of the same site.