The act divided the County of London into 28 metropolitan boroughs, replacing the 42 local authorities administering the area.

The legislation also transferred a few powers from the London County Council to the boroughs, and removed a number of boundary anomalies.

Charters of incorporation as a municipal borough were sought in 1896–1897 by Paddington vestry, the parishes of the City of Westminster and in Kensington.

The stated policy of the Society at the 1897 vestry elections was "conferring on the local authorities of the metropolis municipal dignity and privileges".

[5] In February 1898, a deputation attended the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, and presented him with a memorial calling for municipal government in London.

Sydney Buxton (MP for Tower Hamlets, Poplar) was concerned that the upper population limit would lead to very large boroughs being formed in the east of London.

An amendment by Lord Tweedmouth to ensure that the "Tower of London, and the liberties thereof" was included in the schedule with the area of the Whitechapel District was accepted.

Lord Tweedmouth felt the area of the proposed borough was unwieldy, and his division was a natural one by means of Wandsworth Common.

Lord Hawkesbury felt that the area of the parliamentary borough of Westminster was "far too large to be economically worked", and sought to divide it into two.

[7] Edward Pickersgill, member for Bethnal Green South West moved to have aldermen removed from the borough councils.

Edmund Boulnois, member for Marylebone East moved an amendment to ban women from being mayors, aldermen or councillors of the new boroughs.

On 6 June at the report stage an amendment was carried allowing women to be councillors or aldermen (but not mayors) of the metropolitan boroughs.

Section 4(1) provided that every elected vestry and district board in the county of London would cease to exist, with the powers, properties and liabilities of the abolished authorities transferring to the metropolitan boroughs.

Draft orders were to be prepared by a body of commissioners and presented to both Houses of Parliament for at least 30 days during a parliamentary session.

Draft orders for Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Deptford, Fulham, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Poplar, St. Marylebone, Shoreditch, Southwark, Stoke Newington, Wandsworth and Woolwich were laid before parliament on 13 March 1900.

It allowed an Order in Council to either incorporate the township into either of the metropolitan boroughs of Lewisham or Camberwell, or to form it into an urban district in one or other of the counties of Surrey or Kent.