Being the political leader of any city, it is safe to say, is hard work. Take that job, then add government appointed commissioners, a cancer diagnosis and increasing tightening of finances around local government and you’ve got 12 months in the life of the current Mayor of Liverpool.
Joanne Anderson wasn’t meant to be the figurehead of the city of Liverpool, it’s a role she said she never actively aspired to. Yet last May, she found herself thrust into the spotlight on the city’s political stage.
Amid the swirl of problems emerging from the administration run by her predecessor - and near-namesake - the current Mayor Anderson’s term has been cut to just two years, with all out elections across Liverpool next year, a vote she won’t be part of as she stands down from political life, for now at least.
