City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a city and borough which forms a core part of central London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government including Ministry buildings. Many London landmarks are within the borough, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Westminster Cathedral, 10 Downing Street (residence of the Prime Minister), and Trafalgar Square, dedicated to the British naval victory over France. In 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000.

Westminster became a city in 1540, and historically it was a part of the old county of Middlesex. Its southern boundary is the River Thames. To the City of Westminster's east is the City of London (the old Roman city) and to its west is the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which houses Kensington Palace. To its north is the London Borough of Camden.

The borough is divided into a number of localities including the ancient political district of Westminster; the shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street (the "West End"); and the night-time entertainment district of Soho. Much of the borough is residential, including the rich suburbs of Belgravia, Mayfair, Fitzrovia and Pimlico. It has significant social housing scattered across the borough; and has numerous large parks and open spaces, including Hyde Park and most of Regent's Park.

The London Westminster borough was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon the creation, it inherited the city status previously held by the then Metropolitan Borough of Westminster from 1900, which was first awarded to Westminster in 1540. The local government body is Westminster City Council, and there has been a Lord Mayor of the City of Westminster since 1966, while the area is also within authority of the Mayor of London, an office only created in 2000 by the Labour government.