Labour Assembly Members have been criticised for failing to properly scrutinise the Mayor of London after ensuring every budget amendment laid down by opposition parties were voted down.
The Mayor of London’s annual budget for 2026-27 passed without any changes on Thursday (26 February), despite a marathon session in City Hall where as many as eight formal amendments were proposed.
These included cost-saving measures proposed by the Tories including slash the number of deputy mayors from nine to five and reducing staffing levels across City Hall and Transport for London (TfL).
Other amendments included a request for a dedicated Disability Champion in City Hall to hold the Mayor to account, funded by around £150,000 of business rates reserves.
There were also two attempts – one by Reform UK, and another a joint effort from the Conservative and Lib Dem groups – to halt all planned closures of police station front counters this weekend by freeing up funding elsewhere in the planned budget.
The annual meeting on the budget is the only chance that the London Assembly has to force the Mayor’s hand with binding policy changes.
But on each occasion, the Labour group’s 11 members ensured all the amendments, which required a two-thirds majority on the 25-strong London Assembly, were voted down.
It meant that the budget – which has now gone through several rounds of scrutiny – was left unchanged, prompting opposition assembly members to accuse the party of failing to properly scrutinise the Mayor.
Conservative assembly member Andrew Boff told the LDRS: “I hope Labour assembly members are thinking long and hard today about how they will look their voters in the face, on doorsteps and at the ballot box.
“The London Assembly is a body to scrutinise the Mayor of London, and has the power to change his budget when we think he has gone wrong.
“I think their voters would want them to be a bit braver and not just follow the mayor’s line in the hope of being rewarded with deputy mayoralties or parliamentary seats. Democracy doesn’t work if you think your only job is to be a yes man”.
The Liberal Democrat assembly member Gareth Roberts branded the Labour group “spineless”, adding: “The question every single politician should ask themselves every single day is ‘Have I made a difference to somebody’s life today?’
“Because for all their public petitions and posturing, the Labour group achieved nothing yesterday”.
After her call for a disability champion was voted down – despite twice being backed by the assembly in recent years – Ms Bokhari directly addressed Labour Members, saying: “What’s the point of Labour? You just don’t do anything for London. You are only here, this Labour group, to be the Labour Mayor’s lap dogs”.
Reform UK laid down four Budget amendments, including installing toilets on bus routes for drivers, which they say were “costed” and “would have made demonstrable improvements to the lives of Londoners”.
Assembly Member Alex Wilson told the LDRS: “Every single Labour AM ought to be embarrassed. The role of the Assembly is to hold the Mayor to account, not to ask ‘how high?’ when he tells them to jump.
“What we saw from the Labour Group at Mayor’s Question Time was a sycophantic display of allegiance to Sadiq Khan at a time when it’s more important than ever to stand up to the way he’s running London into the ground.
“These amendments gained some cross-party support but Labour, following Sadiq Khan’s directive to ‘never work with Reform’, blocked them out of sheer stubbornness.
“On 7 May this year, the complacent Labour Party has a shock coming its way. Reform UK will win many historically Labour council seats. I’m sure then they will understand the message the public want them to hear”.
The Labour group did eventually vote through a motion calling on the Mayor to intervene to halt all planned permanent closures of police station front counters scheduled from this weekend, though it is non-binding.
Krupesh Hirani AM, Labour’s Budget Spokesperson, told the LDRS that the party’s Assembly Members were not prepared to vote for any policy changes that would be funded by job cuts.
“We were proud to vote for the Mayor of London’s budget because it delivers real support for Londoners and invests in our city’s future”, he said.
“This budget tackles the cost of living head on. It continues free school meals for all primary school children in London and freezes bus and tram fares, putting money back into the pockets of working families at a time when they need it most.
“It provides record City Hall funding for the Met Police, to protect neighbourhood policing while also supporting the early intervention and prevention work that keeps communities safe.
“And it looks to the future. The budget invests in skills and provides additional funding to help London address the impact of AI, ensuring our workforce is ready for the jobs of tomorrow.
“We were not going to entertain last-minute opposition amendments funded by job cuts".
