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Comment by qingcharles | Hacker News Reader

The City of London (aka the Square Mile) is literally a world unto itself. Even the Mayor of London is not the mayor of the City of London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London

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I recommend the book Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson. It covers offshore tax havens and the central role played by the City in facilitating capital flight and tax avoidance. Chapter 12 is devoted entirely to the City of London Corporation.

Haven't read it for a while but I do recall the word "strange" appearing a lot.

That seems incorrect. The mayor is the mayor of Greater London which includes the City of London, although the City also has a Lord Mayor, as London boroughs have elected or ceremonial mayors. In other words, the City has its own mayor in the sense that other parts of London have their own sub-governments, although with a few differences such as policing and city status.

> The mayor is scrutinised by the London Assembly and, supported by their Mayoral Cabinet, directs the entirety of London, including the City of London (for which there is also the Lord Mayor of the City of London)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_London

> In 1965 the county was abolished and replaced by Greater London, a two-tier administrative area governed by the Greater London Council, thirty-two London boroughs, and the City of London Corporation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London

Appreciate the clarification!

They even have their own mission to the EU so they don't have to rely on the UK government to discuss matters that matter to the City of London https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/supporting-businesses/global...

Think of it as a vertical, focused embassy

Separate police force too.

And in elections, corporations have a vote. Corporation votes vastly outnumber human resident votes.

Though they're outnumbered in large part because almost nobody lives in City of London.

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