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.
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As she got to grips with the role, the government began imposing its will on the city, introducing commissioners to oversee how problem-hit Liverpool Council was run.
What was that like to deal with? Mayor Anderson said it simply became standard practice. She said: “I don't know any differently do I? I think the first three months before the commissioners arrived, the first month, that was enjoyable, one minute I’m dealing with UNESCO, it was a real whirlwind and a very diverse range of issues presented to me on a daily basis that you've got to get your head around so I didn't come up for air really.
“The commissioners haven’t used their powers so this is the job, the people want me to be the decision maker, and as much as a lot of nonsense gets said like ‘she’s not a leader or officers dealt with things’ all the decision making is left to me and the cabinet.
“That's what we're there for. When we can push back against officers and we often do that, we push back against commissioners if we don't think something's right. So, you know, I don't know anything different than dealing with it.”
As you might expect, running a city quite so in the spotlight as Liverpool is all consuming. Mayor Anderson said while she can take a break, she gets "phone calls constantly", adding: "It’s never a job that you can switch off from.”
The issues within Liverpool Council have been well documented in the last year, with commissioners delivering two reports on progress since they were appointed and a litany of improvements identified that the local authority must make moving forward. Mayor Anderson conceded that having to tackle these problems quite so publicly has not been easy.
She said: “I always have my eyes open to the extent of some of the things that are coming out, you know, being honest and transparent. That's why I stood up for the role.
“In terms of everything that comes out, it is like just our open wounds are constantly on display. I was anticipating the point of where everything will be out in the woodwork and we'll be able to move on from that to be sooner.
“That's kind of happening now. Like most things are out in the open, where they’re the problems that I'm currently dealing with.
“People like to blame the administration but there's problems that are way beyond that and in terms of the contracts, there was a contract with one organisation that was a 99-year agreement that we wanted to get out of for years. Who do I blame for 99 years ago?
“I’d like to say the problems are fairly new we’re dealing with now compared to just constantly at the beginning dealing with things coming out of the woodwork, but there’s always a surprise around the corner. It's all challenging.”
Despite this, major developments have occurred during Mayor Anderson’s term of office, none bigger than the city landing the Eurovision song contest for next year. She did admit that amid the difficulties, she was able to enjoy being the Mayor.
She said: “75% of it is absolutely amazing. The job of running your city is just absolutely amazing.
“Now with power comes great responsibility. Someone couldn't get a taxi after the Labour conference and I felt like I had to go and sort it, but they said you’re not responsible for everything.
“The responsibility is quite heavy, but the actual job of running a city is absolutely amazing. Political stuff doesn't really get to me that much, I don't take it personally, I kind of push it off as politics.
“What is the most difficult for me, is trying to fix things in the organisation and problems just pop up out of nowhere.
“Everything’s layered with complexity. Nothing's just straightforward. Everything's complicated.”
Prior to the government intervening, it would have been expected that Mayor Anderson would be in post for a full four years into 2025. As a result of the elections in May, she will only lead the city for half that.
While committed to her post as long as it lasts, there was a sense from Mayor Anderson that she wished she could have had slightly longer. She said: “I only ever said I’d do one term, I have been robbed a little bit with it only being half a term, because just as you get started, you imagine what I could do from here for another two years.
“That’s not to the extent that I'm standing again, but I do feel a little bit cheated out because you look what can you do in half a term and then I'll look at what we've achieved and while a lot of it is negative stuff, we've absolutely stood up and took the brunt of as as a cabinet. We've been hit with all these problems that we've dealt with appropriately, being open and transparent, done it in front of everybody, dealt with those things, and managed to do good stuff as well.
“I think I will look back over this period of my life and think, and ‘do you know what, that was really worthwhile that you give your energy to the city for two years.’”
How the council has dealt with the emerging issues under Mayor Anderson’s leadership has not been met with universal approval but she was firm in her defence of how she and her cabinet had to tackle the problems that have been uncovered in the last 12 months. She said: “We weren't making quick decisions putting sticking plasters over problems.
“We were having to deal with every branch and it is for future cabinets to be able to go and say we haven't got this problem coming out of the woodwork. I can understand politically how people put sticking plasters over things, to get you through a period or get you through an election period, but actually this will be a better organisation.
“I might not get the credit for it at the time, but it will be better in the future, that's what it's all for. I didn’t do it for the glory, I did it because I wanted to help the city.”
Among those to question some choices were the commissioners, who sought additional financial power in their latest assessment of where the council is at. Following the disastrous energy contract debacle in the summer, Cllr Jane Corbett, deputy mayor, stepped away from the finance brief which was considered by most to be a demotion.
Mayor Anderson stressed this wasn’t the case. She said: “The commissioners were unhappy about me being finance lead in the last report.
“People think I sacked Jane, because of the energy contract but I always intended to swap roles around. It was intended that Jane would do it for a year, it is a difficult portfolio. I’m really glad I’ve done it because knowing the finances in depth down to the details is really advantageous.”
Ahead of Mayor Anderson’s election in May 2021, the Labour Party caused a ruckus when it threw out its original selected candidates for the role, before selecting her and Croxteth candidate Anthony Lavelle to contest for the nomination. Mayor Anderson, who represented Princes Park ward at the time, explained why she ended up standing.
She said: “I didn't want the Labour Party to impose somebody on us. I knew some people felt like I was plant and stuff like that, that absolutely isn't the case.
“I just thought, that's a big mistake for Liverpool. I didn't know if the Labour Party were going do that but I did think that was what was going to happen there and I was far removed enough.
“People think I don't have a lot of political insight. I do. I was in the Transport and General Workers' Union when I was in my 20s, I learned everything I needed to know about politics then.”
The Mayor’s term in office has been bookended by movements within her party, and the Labour group last month elected Cllr Liam Robinson as its new leader, with one eye on the elections in the summer. Some may see this as a deposal for the Mayor, but not her.
She said: “I should’ve done it when I first was appointed, I wish I’d have appointed a group leader then. I’d have been leading the city and got on with the improvement journey.
"I'll be honest, I haven't prioritised the Labour group, I got on with other things within the organisation. I knew there was a lot going on at the time and I've really I've kind of left the Labour group to its own devices in that sense you know, when obviously, with me being sick last year, I couldn't attend late night meetings, so I wish I’d have appointed a leader of the group a lot earlier really.”
In May, when she might have reflected on a first year in post, the challenges turned from professional to personal, as Mayor Anderson battled breast cancer. Having been signed off for three months, she returned to work after just two weeks, but after contracting a virus accepted the need to slow down to recover.
She explained how fighting cancer in the midst of one of the hardest periods in the city’s recent history impacted her personally. She said: “You just get on with things don't you?
“I think it only dawned on me probably about four months later that I’d actually had cancer. I think it was just a matter of making everything work so obviously, I had to take a little bit of time off, my immune system was quite low and that was a bit of a warning to me, actually, that you’re not just going to be off for two weeks and then bouncing back.
"So you've got to ease yourself back in. I was working in the office and some nights it is four nights a week that I'm out until 9pm, and after a while I had to be like, ‘no I’m going to go home at 5.’
“I just can't burn the candle at both ends like I used to.” In five months time, the Mayoral post will no longer exist after city councillors backed a proposal, put forward by the current occupant of the role herself, to scrap it altogether.
Looking ahead to the future, Mayor Anderson set out her hopes and where she could end up next, joking that she needed a holiday first. She said: “Yeah, I'm gonna have to find a job aren’t I?
“I went to a smart cities event and I was like a kid in a candy shop and this is where I do feel as you know, I've been robbed a little bit with a shorter term. I saw all these things about what other cities are doing and I’d love my job to be making us a circular economy city, that is the perfect job.
“Now I don't want to be the chief executive of a local authority, but that's kind of the perfect job, the job of running a city in whatever form obviously not as political lead or as chief executive, but how they even do the roundabout design, walkways and everything, designing a city from scratch, changing from one thing to another or influence the behaviour like a circular economy that really excites me.
“I'd like to do something around that or social investments but that involves a lot of bankers and I find I’m a bit too straight talking for them. I want to be in a job that I love, but I also want to be around people I connect with.”
Having lived and worked around the world, the Mayor didn’t rule out moving away from the city for a while, but said “there’s something you miss about Liverpool and it's definitely the people and how they talk to you.” For the time being though, her focus remains on setting the city on a better path, before looking at where the future takes her.
She said: “I've got a lot of professional experience before this role. I don't know whether this makes me more employable or less. I'm sure I'll have options.”
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