People would be “mad” to vote to keep the Mayoral system at the head of Liverpool’s governance, the leader of the largest opposition group has claimed.
Cllr Richard Kemp said he “warned against” the introduction of the system a decade ago and only the “extreme circumstances” the city faces currently has forced a consultation on the future of the city’s leadership. Writing on his blog, the Liberal Democrat group leader - who himself has unsuccessfully ran for Mayor on three occasions - set out how he and his party will campaign for the committee model to be adopted moving forward.
Next month, a letter will be sent to every household in the city, asking: 'How would you like Liverpool City Council to be run?' Those answering will then be provided with three options; by a Mayor who is directly elected by voters every four years (the current system); by a leader who is an elected councillor, chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors; or by a system made up of one of more committees of elected councillors.
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In his blog, Cllr Kemp said his party had tried “on six occasions to get the council to consult with the people of Liverpool and on each occasion were rebuffed by Labour. Only in the extreme circumstances of Liverpool today has the Labour Party been forced to go to the people and consult about the possible elimination of the system which has allowed so much personal patronage, and which placed all political levers in the hands of just one person.”
The veteran councillor said he was working on the assumption that “that few in Liverpool would be mad enough” to vote to retain the Mayoral system and claimed it had been “so badly devalued” by former Mayor Joe Anderson. Cllr Kemp, while acknowledging his party introduced the system in 2000, said the leader and cabinet model “has many of the bad mechanisms” of the existing system.
It had been hoped that a referendum would take place regarding the future governance of the city - as originally proposed by current Mayor Joanne Anderson - but a proposed cost of £450,000 could not be justified according to the council. This city-wide consultation is expected to cost £120,000.
Outlining why the Liberal Democrats will back a committee system, Cllr Kemp said it would allow decisions to be challenged at the time they are made by parties on the council and all councillors would be involved in the decision making process. He said: “At the moment many councillors of all parties have only a limited knowledge of what is going on within the Council.
“With most decisions made by just 10 people they are simply whipped to vote for cabinet decisions.” Cllr Kemp added that the committee system would be “much more accountable and transparent with far fewer decisions being made in the dark recesses of the council.”
The opposition leader said there was “no point” consulting with the city “unless we are prepared to debate the issues with them and take heed of what they have to say.” He added that he hoped a clear expression of what people want will emerge from the engagement exercise and would vote to back it in council.
This was a challenge the veteran laid down to the other parties in the Town Hall “to respect the views of the people.”
