City of Westminster

City of Westminster
—  London borough, City  —
Palace of Westminster
Coat of arms Council logo
Westminster shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Status	London borough, City
Admin HQ	City Hall, Victoria Street
Incorporated	1 April 1965
Government
- Type	London borough council
- Body	Westminster City Council
- Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
- Lord Mayor	Cllr Susie Burbridge
- MPs	Karen Buck (Lab) Mark Field (Con)
- London Assembly	Kit Malthouse (Con) AM for West Central
- EU Parliament	London
Area
- Total	8.3 sq mi (21.48 km2)
Area rank	318th (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
- Total	253,100
- Rank	51st (of 326)
- Density	30,518/sq mi (11,783.1/km2)
- Ethnicity[1]	49.0% White British 2.8% White Irish 19.4% Other White 0.8% White & Black Caribbean 0.7% White & Black African 1.5% White & Asian 1.4% Other Mixed 4.8% Indian 1.4% Pakistani 2.3% Bangladeshi 2.1% Other Asian 2.5% Black Caribbean 3.4% Black African 0.7% Other Black 3.2% Chinese 4.1% Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
- Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes	NW , SW , WC
Area code(s)	020
Police force	Metropolitan Police
Website	westminster.gov.uk

The City of Westminster ⁱ/ˈwɛstmɪnstər/ is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary is the River Thames. It is an Inner London borough and was created in 1965 when Greater London was established. At its creation Westminster was awarded city status, which had been previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of large parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are located in the borough, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and 10 Downing Street. The city is divided into a number of localities including the ancient political district of Westminster around the Palace of Westminster; the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street; and the night time entertainment district of Soho. Much of the city is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council.

History

In 1965 the City of Westminster was created from the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of St Marylebone, Paddington, and the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. The earlier Westminster metropolitan borough was itself the result of an amalgamation in 1900.

Demography

According to the 2001 census, the city had a population of 181,279. Westminster City Council undertook several studies, supported by both political parties on the council, that indicated that this figure was too low. The Office for National Statistics eventually added 17,500 people to Westminster's population, increasing its grant from the United Kingdom Government. The official population is now 198,779, but some estimates put it at 220,000. Approximately 71% of the population is White (British: 49.0%, Irish: 2.0%, and Other White: 19.0%), 16% are of any Asian ethnicity, 7% Black, 6% Mixed, and 4% belong to other racial groups. About 35% of households are occupied by their owners.

Governance

The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing 3 councillors. Westminster City Council is currently composed of 48 Conservative Party members and 12 Labour Party members.^[2][3]

Evolution of Parliamentary representation					2010
1918	1950	1974	1979	1997
St Marylebone			Westminster North	Regent's Park and Kensington North	Westminster North
Paddington North		Paddington
Paddington South				Cities of London and Westminster
Westminster St George's	Cities of London and Westminster				Cities of London and Westminster
Westminster Abbey
City of London

Districts

The City of Westminster covers all or part of the following areas of London:

• Bayswater
• Belgravia (also partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
• Covent Garden (also partly in the London Borough of Camden)
• Fitzrovia (also partly in the London Borough of Camden)
• Hyde Park
• Knightsbridge (also partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
• Lisson Grove
• Maida Vale
• Mayfair
• Marylebone
• Millbank
• Paddington
• Pimlico
• Queen's Park
• St James's
• St John's Wood
• Soho, including Chinatown
• The Temple (part of)
• "Theatreland"
• Victoria
• Westbourne Green
• West End
• Westminster City Centre

Economy

The City of Westminster is home to a large number of companies. Many leading global corporations have chosen to locate their global or European headquarters in the City of Westminster. Mayfair and St. James's within the City of Westminster also have a large concentration of hedge fund and private equity funds. The West End is known as the Theatre District and is home to many of the leading performing arts businesses. Soho and its adjoining areas house a concentration of media and creative companies. Oxford Street is one of the leading shopping destinations in the world.^{[citation needed]} The list of companies includes

BP head office in St. James's, City of Westminster

• BAE Systems has its head office in Westminster^[4][5][6]
• BBC has its head office in the Broadcasting House^[7]
• BP has its global headquarters in St. James's, Westminster.^[8][9]
• Pearson PLC and subsidiary Penguin Group: headquartered in a facility in Westminster.^[10][11]
• Rio Tinto Group, a multinational Australian-British company, has its UK head office in Westminster.^[12]
• Economist Group, publisher of The Economist and other materials, is headquartered in Westminster.^[13]
• Kingfisher plc has its head office in Paddington, Westminster^[14]
• SABMiller has its head office in Westminster.^[9][15]
• British American Tobacco has its head office in the Globe House in the City of Westminster.^[16]
• Marks & Spencer has its head office in the Waterside House.^[17]
• Swire Group has its head office in the Swire House^[18]
• Pret a Manger has its head office in Westminster.^[19]
• Rolls-Royce Group has its head office in Westminster.^[20]
• Global Infrastructure Partners has an office in Westminster.^[21]
• EasyGroup has its head office in Mayfair, City of Westminster.^[22]
• Gulf Oil International has its head office in the city.^[23]
• AstraZeneca has its head office in Westminster.^[9][24][25]
• Informa has its London office, including its Investor Relations and Media Centre departments, in the Informa House^[26]
• Petrofac possesses an office on Jermyn Street, near Oxford Circus.^{[citation needed]}
• Northrop Grumman has its UK offices in Clareville House.^[27]
• Korean Air has its European head office in the City of Westminster.^[28]
• Iraqi Airways has its London sales office in the IKB House in City of Westminster.^[29]

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London is located in Westminster.^[9][30]

Companies that previously had their head offices in the City of Westminster include British Aircraft Corporation,^[9][31] British Midland (Portland House),^[32] British United Airways,^[33] British Mediterranean Airways,^[34] Cadbury,^[35] Diageo,^[36] BAA Limited,^[9][37][38] Lloyd International Airways,^[39] and P&O Princess Cruises.^[40]

Landmarks

Palace of Westminster

Main article: List of tourist sites in the City of Westminster

Further information: List of roads in the City of Westminster

Westminster contains many of the most famous sites in London. Some of the popular tourist sites are Buckingham Palace, Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben and nearby Westminster Abbey.

Parks and open spaces

Lord's Cricket Ground

Main article: Westminster parks and open spaces

These include Green Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park and St. James's Park. In addition to parks and open spaces within the borough, the City owns and maintains East Finchley Cemetery and crematorium in the London Borough of Barnet.

Transport

Bridges

These include Chelsea Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Grosvenor Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Vauxhall Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge.

National Rail stations

Stations include: London Charing Cross, London Marylebone, London Paddington and London Victoria these are all main London termini stations.

London Underground

The City of Westminster is served by 27 tube stations, and 10 of the 11 Underground lines (the Waterloo and City line is the exception).

Electric charging points

Westminster City Council now has electric vehicle charging points in 15 locations through the city (13 car parks and two on-street points). Users pay an annual fee to cover administration costs to register and use the points.^[41]

Road

Motorcyclists are subject to a motorcycle parking charge that has caused protest in the borough. Furthermore, Outrage has been caused as Westminster City Council announce that they are set to implement further parking regulations in the City of London as of 1st December 2011.

Education

LSE's Old Building entrance

Main article: List of schools in the City of Westminster

Westminster Children's Services operates many community primary and secondary schools. In addition, several voluntary-aided Church of England (CE), Roman Catholic (RC), and Christian non-denominational (ND) schools are in the city.^[42]

Universities and colleges

• Strand campus of King's College London.
• University of the Arts London site the London College of Fashion on Davies Street.
• London Business School is located in Regent's Park.
• London School of Economics is located near Aldwych.
• School of Advanced Study is located near Russell Square.
• Royal Academy of Music is located on Marylebone Road.
• University of the Arts London has constituent colleges in Holborn (CSM) and Millbank (Chelsea).
• University of Westminster is located on three campuses in the borough.
• Brigham Young University London Centre is located on Palace Court.
• The northern half of Imperial College London's main South Kensington campus lies within the borough.
• City of Westminster College is a further education college with campuses on Paddington Green and at Queens Park. It also owns the Cockpit Theatre, which is used as a training and performance venue.
• Regent's College, whose campus is within the grounds of Regent's Park, which houses: European Business School London; Regent's American College London; Regent's Business School; School of Psychotherapy and Counselling; Webster Graduate School; Internexus, a provider of English language courses.
• Westminster Kingsway College is a further education college with centres in Soho and Victoria in Westminster. It also has centres in Camden.

Public libraries

Charing Cross Library

The London Library, an independent lending library, is located at 14 St. James Square in the City of Westminster.^[9][43]

The city operates one reference library, the Westminster Reference Library.^[44] City-operated public lending libraries in Westminster include the Charing Cross Library,^[45] the Church Street Library,^[46] the Maida Vale Library,^[47] the Marylebone Library,^[48] the Mayfair Library,^[49] the Paddington Library,^[50] the Pimlico Library,^[51] the Queen's Park Library,^[52] St. James's Library,^[53] St. John's Wood Library,^[54] and the Victoria Library.^[55] In addition the city has two specialist libraries, the Westminster Music Library, the largest music library in the United Kingdom,^[56] and the Westminster Chinese Library in the Charing Cross Library.^[57]

Banksy and official policy towards graffiti

One nation under CCTV.^[58]

In April 2008 the street artist Banksy created a work "One Nation Under CCTV" on the side of the Newman Street Royal Mail building in Soho, apparently accomplished by erecting scaffolding overnight under the direct observation of a CCTV camera. The work was described by the Daily Mail as "his biggest work yet in central London".^[59] Westminster City Council stated in October 2008 that the work would be painted over as it is graffiti. The council explained that it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy "has no more right to paint graffiti than a child". Robert Davis, the chairman of the council planning committee told The Times newspaper: "If we condone this then we might as well say that any kid with a spray can is producing art". The work was painted over in April 2009.^[60][61]

International relations

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

• Sylhet, Bangladesh

Gallery

• 

  Statue of a Gurkha in City of Westminster

• 

  Double-decker buses frame a busy Whitehall with Big Ben in the background.

• 

  Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial

• 

  Westminster Cathedral

• 

  Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

• 

  The Shaftesbury Memorial in Piccadilly Circus

• 

  Hungerford Bridges, seen from the north

• 

  St. James's Park Lake, looking east, with the London Eye in the background

• 

  St Martin-in-the-Fields

• 

  Chinatown in 2004.

See also

London portal

• London Underground
• River Thames
• River Westbourne
• West End of London

References

1. ^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
2. ^ City Council Elections 2010 - Results at westminster.gov.uk
3. ^ Previous Elections (for by-election results) at westminster.gov.uk
4. ^ "Company Info." BAE Systems. Retrieved on 31 August 2011. "Registered office 6 Carlton Gardens, London, SW1Y 5AD, United Kingdom"
5. ^ "London > BAE Systems plc." BAE Systems. Retrieved on 31 August 2011. "BAE Systems plc Address London - Stirling Square Carlton Gardens London SW1Y 5AD United Kingdom "
6. ^ "Head Office." BAE Systems. Retrieved on 31 August 2011. "As you might expect, our London Head Office is the base for our Executive Board and for other senior group managers in strategic roles." and "Head Office is located in Central London but also has a number of support functions and functional specialists based in Farnborough, Hampshire."
7. ^ "Terms and Conditions." BBC. Retrieved on 6 January 2010. "British Broadcasting Corporation Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA."
8. ^ "Contact BP in the United Kingdom." BP. Retrieved on 18 August 1009.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Maps." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.
10. ^ "Investor Contacts." Pearson PLC. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.
11. ^ "26. What is Penguin Books Limited's company registration number?." Penguin Books. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.
12. ^ "Contact Us." Rio Tinto Group. Retrieved on April 9, 2010. "Rio Tinto plc head office 2 Eastbourne Terrace London W2 6LG UK"
13. ^ "Locations." Economist Group. Retrieved on 12 September 2009. "The Economist Group 25 St James's Street London, SW1A 1HG United Kingdom"
14. ^ "Kingfisher Group." Kingfisher plc. Retrieved on 2 February 2011. "Corporate Responsibility Kingfisher plc 3 Sheldon Square Paddington London W2 6PX."
15. ^ "United Kingdom." SABMiller. Retrieved on 20 October 2009. "SABMiller plc Head office One Stanhope Gate London W1K 1AF England"
16. ^ "Contact us." British American Tobacco. Retrieved on 15 December 2009.
17. ^ "Company > Contacts." Marks & Spencer. Retrieved on 21 June 2010.
18. ^ "Contact Information JOHN SWIRE & SONS OFFICES." Swire Group. Retrieved on September 12, 2011. "John Swire & Sons Ltd. Swire House 59 Buckingham Gate London SW1E 6AJ England"
19. ^ "Welcome to Pret." Pret a Manger. Retrieved on 27 February 2010.
20. ^ "Rolls-Royce headquarters". Rolls-Royce Group plc. http://www.rolls-royce.com/contact/headquarters.jsp. Retrieved 28 September 2010. 
21. ^ "Contact Us." Global Infrastructure Partners. Retrieved on February 27, 2010.
22. ^ "About Us." EasyGroup. Retrieved on 10 March 2010.
23. ^ "Privacy Policy." Gulf Oil International. Retrieved on March 10, 2010.
24. ^ "Legal Notice." AstraZeneca. Retrieved on 12 March 2010.
25. ^ "United Kingdom." AstraZeneca. Retrieved on 12 March 2010.
26. ^ "Global Contacts." Informa. Retrieved on 4 February 2011. "Head Office Gubelstrasse 11 CH-6300 Zug Switzerland"
27. ^ "Company Locations." Northrop Grumman. Retrieved on September 6, 2011. "Northrop Grumman Corporation United Kingdom Headquarters Clareville House Oxendon Street London SW1Y 4EL UK"
28. ^ "Company Info / Contact Info." Korean Air. Retrieved on 30 August 2011. "Europe Headquarters 66/68 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0HJ, U.K"
29. ^ "London Office." Iraqi Airways. Retrieved on 30 August 2011. "Sales Office in London Address: IKB House 230 Edgware Road London , W2 1DW"
30. ^ "Contact Us." Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
31. ^ Gardner, Charles. British Aircraft Corporation: A History. Batsford, 1981. 40. Retrieved from Google Books on 1 September 2011. "The London headquarters chosen for bac were at 100 Pall Mall - on the top floors of a new concrete box which had sprung up on the site of the old, historic (and bombed) Carlton Club. It was the view of bac that small London headquarters[...]"
32. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 28 September 1967. 530. "Head Office: 78 Buckingham Gate, London SW1"
33. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 28 September 1967. 530. "Head Office: Portland House, Stag Place, London SW1"
34. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 29 March-4 April 1995. 62. "53 Mount Street, London W1Y 5RE, UK"
35. ^ Muspratt, Caroline. "Cadbury swaps Mayfair for Uxbridge." The Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2007. Retrieved on 27 April 2010.
36. ^ "Contact us." Diageo. Retrieved on 15 December 2009. "main content Diageo plc 8 Henrietta Place LONDON W1G ONB"
37. ^ "BAA plc Head Office, Victoria, London." BAA Limited. Retrieved on 2 October 2010. "BAA plc 130 Wilton Road London SW1V 1LQ:"
38. ^ "BAA Offices - Location Maps." BAA Limited. 17 March 2006. Retrieved on 2 October 2010. "BAA plc Head Office, Victoria, London (121KB)."
39. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 12 April 1962. 548. "Head Office: Princes House, 190/195 Piccadilly, London Wl."
40. ^ "Contact." P&O Princess Cruises. 5 June 2002. Retrieved on 19 September 2011. "P&O Princess Cruises plc Registered office: 77 New Oxford Street London WC1A 1PP UK"
41. ^ City of Westminster: Additional on street charging points for electric vehicles
42. ^ Westminster Education service accessed 17 May 2007
43. ^ "Visit." The London Library. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
44. ^ "Westminster Reference Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
45. ^ "Charing Cross Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
46. ^ "Church Street Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
47. ^ "Maida Vale Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
48. ^ "Marylebone Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
49. ^ "Mayfair Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
50. ^ "Paddington Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
51. ^ "Pimlico Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
52. ^ "Queen's Park Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
53. ^ "St. James's Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
54. ^ "St. John's Wood Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
55. ^ "Victoria Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
56. ^ "Westminster Music Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
57. ^ "Westminster Chinese Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
58. ^ "Banksy art is graffiti, rules town hall". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 October 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/banksy-art-is-graffiti-rules-council/2008/10/24/1224351528852.html. 
59. ^ Article in the Daily Mail 14 April 2008 Retrieved April 22, 2010
60. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, October 24 2008 Retrieved April 13, 2010
61. ^ Article in The Independent 24 October 2008 Retrieved April 22, 2010

External links

• City of Westminster
• Nutsville's topical news page on Westminster Council
• Westminster, by Sir Walter Besant and Geraldine Edith Mitton and A. Murray Smith, 1902, from Project Gutenberg

Video clips

• Westminster City Council YouTube channel

Coordinates: 51°30′N 00°08′W / 51.5°N 0.133°W / 51.5; -0.133