City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector.
In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London to distinguish the body governing the City of London from the Greater London Authority, the regional government of the larger Greater London administrative area. It is a corporation in the sense of being a municipal corporation rather than a company; it is deemed to be the citizens and other eligible parties acting as one corporate body to manage the City's affairs. The corporation is based at the Guildhall.
Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in corporation elections. In addition to its functions as the local authority the City of London Corporation takes responsibility for supporting the financial services industry and representing its interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery of the City.
The "Liberties and Customs" of the City of London are guaranteed in Magna Carta's clause IX, which remains in statute.

History

In the Anglo-Saxon period, consultation between London's rulers and its citizens took place at the Folkmoot. Administration and judicial processes were conducted at the Court of Husting and the administrative part of the court's work evolved into the Court of Aldermen.
There is no surviving record of a charter first establishing the corporation as a legal body, but the City is regarded as incorporated by prescription, meaning that the law presumes it to have been incorporated because it has for so long been regarded as such. The City of London Corporation has been granted various special privileges since the Norman Conquest, and the Corporation's first recorded royal charter dates from around 1067, when William the Conqueror granted the citizens of London a charter confirming the rights and privileges that they had enjoyed since the time of Edward the Confessor. Numerous subsequent royal charters over the centuries confirmed and extended the citizens' rights.
Around 1189, the City gained the right to have its own mayor, later being advanced to the degree and style of Lord Mayor of London. Over time, the Court of Aldermen sought increasing help from the City's commoners and this was eventually recognised with commoners being represented by the Court of Common Council, known by that name since at least as far back as 1376. The earliest records of the business habits of the City's chamberlains and common clerks, and the proceedings of the courts of Common Council and Aldermen, begin in 1275, and are recorded in fifty volumes known as the Letter-Books of the City of London.
The City of London Corporation had its privileges stripped by a writ quo warranto under Charles II in 1683, but they were later restored and confirmed by Act of Parliament under William III and Mary II in 1690, after the Glorious Revolution.
With growing demands on the Corporation and a corresponding need to raise local taxes from the commoners, the Common Council grew in importance and has been the principal governing body of the City of London since the 18th century.
In January 1898, the Common Council gained the full right to collect local rates when the City of London Sewers Act 1897 transferred the powers and duties of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London to the Corporation. A separate Commission of Sewers was created for the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, and as well as the construction of drains it had responsibility for the prevention of flooding; paving, cleaning and lighting the City of London's streets; and churchyards and burials. The individual commissioners were previously nominated by the Corporation, but it was a separate body. The Corporation had earlier limited rating powers in relation to raising funds for the City of London Police, as well as the militia rate and some rates in relation to the general requirements of the Corporation.
The Corporation is unique among British local authorities for its continuous legal existence over many centuries, and for having the power to alter its own constitution, which is done by an Act of Common Council.

Local authority role

Local government legislation often makes special provision for the City to be treated as a London borough and for the Common Council to act as a local authority. The Corporation does not have general authority over the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple, two of the Inns of Court adjoining the west of the City which are historic extra-parochial areas, but many statutory functions of the Corporation are extended into these two areas.
The chief executive of the administrative side of the Corporation holds the ancient office of Town Clerk of London.

High Officers and other officials

Because of its accumulated wealth and responsibilities, the Corporation has a number of officers and officials unique to its structure who enjoy more autonomy than most local council officials, and each of whom has a separate budget:

The Town Clerk, who is also the chief executive.
The Chamberlain, the City Treasurer and Finance Officer.
The City Remembrancer, who is responsible for protocol, ceremonial, and security issues as well as legislative matters that may affect the Corporation and is legally qualified.
The City Surveyor, who is responsible for the central London commercial property portfolio
The Comptroller and City Solicitor; legal officer.
The Recorder of London, the senior judge at the Central Criminal Court 'Old Bailey' who is technically a member of the Court of Aldermen; but without precedence, he processes between the senior aldermen, i.e. former lord mayors, and the junior aldermen.
The Common Serjeant, the second senior judge at the Central Criminal Court, technically the legal adviser to the Common Council.

There are others:

Elections

The first direct elections to Common Council took place in 1384. Before that date the representatives of the wards had been elected by the livery companies; originally they were merely appointed by the aldermen.
The City of London Corporation was not reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, because it had a more extensive electoral franchise than any other borough or city; in fact, it widened this further with its own equivalent legislation allowing one to become a freeman without being a liveryman. In 1801, the City had a population of about 130,000, but increasing development of the City as a central business district led to this falling to below 5,000 after the Second World War. It has risen slightly to around 9,000 since, largely due to the development of the Barbican Estate. As it has not been affected by other municipal legislation over the period of time since then, its electoral practice has become increasingly anomalous.
Therefore, the non-residential vote, abolished in the rest of the country in 1969, became an increasingly large part of the electorate. The non-residential vote system used disfavoured incorporated companies. The City of London Act 2002 greatly increased the business franchise, allowing many more businesses to be represented. In 2009, the business vote was about 24,000, greatly exceeding residential voters.

Voters

Eligible voters must be at least 18 years old and a citizen of the United Kingdom, or a Commonwealth country, and either:

A resident;
A sole trader, or a partner in an unlimited partnership, or;
An appointee of a qualifying body.

Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated, whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number of voters based on the number of workers it employs. Limited liability partnerships fall into this category.
Bodies employing fewer than ten workers may appoint one voter, those employing ten to fifty workers may appoint one voter for every five; those employing more than fifty workers may appoint ten voters and one additional voter for every fifty workers beyond the first fifty.
Though workers count as part of a workforce regardless of nationality, only certain individuals may be appointed as voters. Under section 5 of the City of London Act 2002, the following are eligible to be appointed as voters :

Those who have worked for the body for the past year at premises in the City;
Those who have served on the body's board of directors for the past year at premises in the City;
Those who have worked in the City for the body for an aggregate total of five years;
Those who have worked mainly in the City for a total of ten years and still do so or have done within the last five years.

Voters appointed by businesses who are also entitled to vote in a local authority district other than the City, due to their residence in that district, maintain the right to vote in their 'home' district.

Wards

The City of London is divided into twenty-five wards, each of which is an electoral division, electing one alderman and a number of councilmen based on the size of the electorate. The numbers below reflect the changes caused by the City of London Act 2002 and a recent ward boundary review.

Ward	Common councilmen
Aldersgate	6
Aldgate	5
Bassishaw	2
Billingsgate	2
Bishopsgate	6
Bread Street	2
Bridge	2
Broad Street	3
Candlewick	2
Castle Baynard	8
Cheap	3
Coleman Street	4
Cordwainer	3
Cornhill	3
Cripplegate	8
Dowgate	2
Farringdon Within	8
Farringdon Without	10
Langbourn	3
Lime Street	4
Portsoken	4
Queenhithe	2
Tower	4
Vintry	2
Walbrook	2
Total	100