The structure of power wielding at the top of Liverpool Council has been the subject of fierce debate for some time.
Calls for public discussion and debate on how the local authority is governed have swirled around the Town Hall for years, with scrutiny over the effectiveness of the current Mayoral model.
Upon election in May 2021, Mayor Joanne Anderson vowed to campaign to effectively do away with her own job through a referendum.
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With changes to the electoral calendar bringing forward city-wide votes to 2023, a referendum has been deemed too costly by the controlling Labour group at around £500,000.
At last week’s meeting of the local authority, Mayor Anderson’s Labour group presented an option for a consultation on the issue - priced at around £120,000 - to run between March and June this year.
The Mayor said a consultation would 'do the same job' as a referendum and get the same results.
What of the other parties at Town Hall?
Cllr Tom Crone, leader of the Green Party group, said a referendum was a “worthwhile use of council resources to ensure this city is governed properly.”
Cllr Crone criticised Labour’s plan for a consultation, claiming it represented “wasted money,” would be non-binding and failed to guarantee any meaningful level of engagement.
Of the existing Mayoral system, St Michaels ward member Cllr Crone said it had “failed” and the lack of referendum on the position being established in 2012 had created a “democratic deficit” which had “dogged” the city ever since.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Richard Kemp used his blog to outline the reasons why they would campaign for a third option - the committee system.
Under this model, a council elects a leader but power is exercised by a number of committees, made up of councillors proportionate to the representation of each party on the council.
Wirral Council has operated this system since 2019.
Cllr Kemp said adopting the committee approach would mean “better decision making because the experience of all councillors across all the city will be used to create the council policies that we need.”
He added that: “It’s clear that the people of Liverpool detest and will abolish the Elected Mayoralty.”
Liberal Group leader Cllr Steve Radford backed the Labour proposal, praising the logic around council finances but ultimately wanted to see a Mayoral system implemented with proportional representation.
The City-wide consultation will begin next month with residents, businesses and stakeholder organisations to be invited to take part.
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