Town hall insiders this week criticised London mayor, Boris Johnson, over his ‘shameless' pitch for devolved powers at the expense of the capital's boroughs.

Some senior borough figures are concerned the mayor is forcing himself to the front of the queue in pitching for significant new powers from Whitehall from a sympathetic Conservative-led coalition in Parliament.

Privately, figures at Labour-controlled boroughs – the majority of councils in the capital – told The MJ that while the Conservative mayor was presenting his devolution proposals as a benefit to all local government, proposals he outlined this week would beef-up City Hall's powers – not town halls.

Mr Johnson used the latest meeting of the capital's London Congress – a recently-formed conference of the leaders of the capital's 32 boroughs and the mayor – on 14 June to pitch for a huge range of new mayoral powers. One source said: ‘There is a feeling the London boroughs are being sidelined. Even the congress meetings are little more than a talking shop dominated by the mayor.'

Ministers' recent decision to abolish the Government Office for London, and the coalition's ‘bonfire of the quangos', has initiated a scramble by organisations keen to assume greater responsibility for public services in the capital, including town halls.

‘The capital is a global powerhouse, with a population as large as Wales and Scotland combined, yet despite providing this world city with clear leadership, the mayoralty has few formal powers. This will no longer do,' Mr Johnson said before the meeting on 14 June.

He called for: