 It covered "the Metropolis", the area designated London in the 1851 census (an enlarged variant of the Bills of mortality area fixed in 1726), the alternative proposals had been that it should cover the Metropolitan Police District, the area that coal tax was levied or the area used for the Metropolitan Interments Act 1852.It was not to be a directly elected body, but instead to consist of members nominated by the vestries who were the principal local authorities.The larger vestries had two members and the City of London had three.