Steve Rotheram will seek a third term as Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, the ECHO can exclusively reveal.
Mayor Rotheram will seek the Labour nomination to stand for a third successive term as the city region's mayor. If he retains the Labour nomination he will be favourite to retain the mayoral position in next year's Metro Mayor elections.
The former Member of Parliament for Walton became the first ever Liverpool City Region Mayor in 2017 when the new position was created as part of a devolution deal. He was then comfortably re-elected for a second term in 2021.
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Speaking to the ECHO, Mayor Rotheram confirmed his intention to run again. He said: "At this moment there is a trigger mechanism that we have to get through which will conclude in the next few weeks. This is an opportunity for members to decide whether what I have done so far is something they would support. If I get through that then my intention is to run for a next term and for the full duration of that next term."
Mayor Rotheram endured a slow start to his time as Metro Mayor as the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (CA) tried to get to grips with the functions and powers of the new position and devolution deal. He faced criticism in his first term for not articulating what the position entailed.
But things have improved at the CA and most will the Mayor has become a far more visible presence around the region. He says there is much more he would like to do in a third term, particularly around delivering on pledges for a London-style integrated public transport system.
He said: "Hopefully we will then see the completion of some of the foundations we have built and the hard work that has gone on. I want to see the public transport system I have spoken about for years functioning. I want to see all the new trains running, I want to see buses running and bus franchising come in.
"I want to see that walking and cycling infrastructure up and joined up. I want to see the new ferry. All that integration will take a few more years."
"Beyond that, we are still trying to make the government look seriously at us in terms of innovation and the green industrial revolution. There is about a million jobs in that and I think we can get tens of thousands of those jobs here in the Liverpool City Region. All the pieces are there and it just needs something to happen and for me that's a Labour government, which could take it stratospheric."
At 61, the Mayor says a third term would represent the final stage in a political career that has seen him as a city councillor, MP and Mayor of the region.
He said: "It will definitely be my last full time job. I moved from being an MP and people thought I was foolish but it was such an opportunity for someone from this area to try and shape its future direction.
"It's been a difficult three years when you think what we have all been through and some things we wanted to happen have been delayed. We have got through that period now and there are things I want to come to fruition and get over the line.
"It will be 11 years then and I think to see something really turn around it takes about a decade. If you look at Manchester, they had a strategic plan and that has taken a decade, you can see how that is going now there, but that has taken a decade. We have that vision now, we have the strategic plans - just imagine what we can do."
Mayor Rotheram said he consulted with his family before making the decision to stand again, he added: "My wife sees that my passion is about doing this and has always supported me. She likes to see the demonstrable changes that are happening now."
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