Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London the ancient City of London had been prominent political topics since the 1830s. Recommendations by royal commissions given in 1837, 1854 and 1867 had largely been left unimplemented. The Local Government Act 1888 had set up a County of London which surrounded, but did not include, the square-mile and main business district of the City of London. London was therefore governed by the Corporation of London at its core and the London County Council for its metropolitan area. When the first London County Council was elected, the Progressive Party, closely allied to the parliamentary Liberals, took control. The first chairman
Wards of the City of London Wards of the City of London The City of London (also known simply as "the City") is divided into 25 wards. The City is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of Greater London, with an ancient and "sui generis" form of local government, which avoided the many local government reforms elsewhere in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike other modern-day English local authorities, the City of London Corporation has two council bodies: the now largely ceremonial Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common Council. The wards are a survival of the medieval governmental system