John B wrote:

Which is not a "fact" as I've pointed out elsewhere; the drive to
abolish
the GLC predated Ken coming to power. Also the crucial election was 1981
(and won by Labour on a moderate manifesto with a moderate leader who
was
promptly deposed) and wasn't that different from 1967, 1973 or 1977 when
the
incumbent Westminster government lost the GLC in a mid term election.

...? Surely your link below highlights the fact that the main drive to
abolish the GLC came in 1983, by which time Ken had been in power for
two years...

http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glccomment.html

The drive began at the borough council level because they realised they
didn't need it and didn't get enough out of it - the GLC provided about 16%
of services at the time of "Streamlining the Cities" (and the metropolitan
county councils 26%) compared to 87% for the shire counties. The 1979
Marshall Report only narrowly recommended against abolition and the drive
was ongoing. That was a trend predating Livingstone. What you're referring
to is the pressure acted on by central government, but it would abolished
anyway regardless of who was leading it (although a populist Conservative
leader might have temporarily withstood the tide from a Conservative
government).