in 1835 elected municipal boroughs had been set up covering every major city except london. the city of london, only the very core of the sprawling metropolis, was untouched by the municipal corporations act 1835 and resisted all moves to expand its borders to include the poorer inner-city districts surrounding it. this meant that three counties had authority over the metropolitan area: middlesex covered the area north of the thames and west of the river lea, surrey the area to the south and south-west, and kent the far south east.