London elections 2024 in Fitzrovia – what you need to know

Residents in Fitzrovia, along with voters across London, will go to the polls to elect the Mayor of London and members of the London Assembly on Thursday 2 May 2024.

Here’s what you need to know about the Greater London Authority elections, why they matter, registering to vote, and who the candidates are.

The Mayor is responsible for making London a better place for everyone who visits, lives or works in the city. This ranges from developing policies to setting budgets, from overseeing major programmes to championing London around the world — all in line with the Mayor’s vision and in the interests of London and Londoners. 

The Mayor is in charge of The Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, planning, housing and the environment, as well as playing a key role in putting together plans and policies, and running and funding projects. 

The annual budget of £21.9bn (2024-2025) is used, among other things, to run public transport, police and fire services, and develop London’s economy and infrastructure and is financed from a mixture of central government grants, transport fares, business rates and council tax. The London Assembly can amend the Mayor’s budget if two-thirds of the 25 Members agree.

London’s councils, rather than the Mayor or London Assembly, are directly responsible for many of the services Londoners experience day-to-day, like council housing, schools, social services, rubbish collection, street cleaning, parking permits, and council tax and business rates collection. 

The Mayor’s tax-raising powers are limited as central government leads on most forms of taxation, meaning London has limited control over the taxes raised in the capital. The only funding the Mayor has control over is raised through a levy on council tax and a supplementary levy on business rates.

While the General London Assembly is made up of 25 Members — 11 represent the whole capital and 14 are elected by London’s constituencies. 

The 14 constituencies are made up of two or more local authority areas. Fitzrovia East lies within “Barnet and Camden”, and Fitzrovia West is in “West Central”.

Assembly Members hold the Mayor to account by examining Mayoral strategies, decisions and actions to make sure they are in the public interest. They champion Londoners’ concerns by investigating important issues and pressing for changes to national, Mayoral or local policy. 

They also have the power to reject strategies and make changes to budgets when two-thirds of Assembly Members agree. The Mayor is questioned by the Assembly 10 times a year at Mayor’s Question Time.

In previous Mayoral elections, voters were able to make a first and second choice vote. However due to changes under the Elections Act 2022, the Mayor will now be decided under First Past the Post, and you can only vote for one candidate. The method of voting for the London Assembly remains unchanged.

Greater London Returning Officer, Mary Harpley, said: “The Mayor and the London Assembly hold important and powerful roles. The winning Mayoral candidate will be responsible for issues that affect every Londoner — from transport and policing to housing and the environment. 

“It is up to Londoners to decide who will run the capital for the next four years.”

How to Vote

To vote you must be registered. The deadline to register is 16 April and you can do so online. If you have already registered you should have received — or will receive — a letter with your polling card and information about how to vote.

Under changes brought in by the Election Act, it is now mandatory to bring photo ID with you to vote. For all acceptable forms of ID see the official voter ID page.

At the polling station, voters will receive three ballot papers: one for the Mayor, one for the London-wide Assembly Members and one for their Constituency Assembly Members.

If you cannot attend in person at a polling station, you can vote by post or by proxy.

To vote by post you will need to apply online and provide your National Insurance (NI) number.

You can also ask someone to vote on your behalf. Your proxy can be anyone as long as they are registered and eligible to vote in the same election. They can go to a polling station to vote, or apply to vote for you by post. If you would like to vote by proxy for a particular poll you can apply online. 

London Elects, the Greater London Authority team responsible for organising the election of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, will send an information booklet to each of London’s over six million registered voters shortly, with a “mini manifesto” from 11 of the Mayoral candidates, the full list of Assembly candidates and information about how to vote.

In Fitzrovia there will be polling stations on the the east and west side of the neighbourhood open from 7am to 10pm. Staff will then be on hand to help.

Verification of ballot papers will take place on Friday 3 May 2024 and the count commences on Saturday 4 May 2024 from 9am.

The candidates

Thirteen candidates will stand to be Mayor of London for the next four years, including the current Mayor Sadiq Khan who is running for a third term. All the major parties are represented as well as smaller parties and independents. You can see the full list here.

The London-wide Assembly members are chosen from a list of 15 parties and independents. You can see a full list here.

The Constituency Assembly candidates for West Central (for voters in Fitzrovia West) are: DEVENISH, Tony — The Conservative Party Candidate; NOBLET, Christophe — Liberal Democrat; PATEMAN, Nicola — ReformUK – London Deserves Better; SINHA, Rajiv Rahul — Green Party; and SMALL-EDWARDS, James Tacuma — Labour and Co-operative Party.

The Constituency Assembly candidates for Barnet and Camden (for voters in Fitzrovia East) are: CLARKE, Anne — Labour and Co-operative Party; EMERY, Scott — Liberal Democrat; FORHAD, Raj — ReformUK – London Deserves Better; MARTIN, Bill — The Socialist Party (GB); REDMOND, Julie — Conservatives; and TOKLEY, Kate — The Green Party.

Full and up-to-date information about the London elections is available from London Elects.