Councillor sees off leadership challenge

Marion Atkinson saw off the leadership challenge just over a year after she was elected to the role

A Merseyside councillor has seen off a leadership challenge just over a year after she was appointed to the role.

Sefton Council leader Marion Atkinson was challenged by Sudell ward councillor James Hansen at a meeting on Tuesday night.

Atkinson became Sefton's first female council leader when she was elected in January 2024, and has been the only female leader on Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Meanwhile, Labour's Paula Basnett was elected as the leader of the Labour group on Wirral Council and is set to become council leader at a meeting later this month.

As leader of Sefton Council's largest party, Marion Atkinson is set to continue to lead the authority.

She has overseen investment in Bootle's Salt and Tar venue as leader, and she was relatively new in the role when she led the council's response to the Southport stabbing attack in July 2024.

Basnett, who represents the Rock Ferry ward, is set to take over from previous Wirral Council leader Paul Stuart after he stood down, and she will become leader at a full council meeting on 21 May.

As Wirral Council is in no overall control, any leader needs the support of at least 34 councillors from a minimum of two political parties.

Basnett will therefore be seeking support from opposition parties in the council going forward.

Her election follows weeks of speculation about an internal battle within Wirral Labour over the top job.

Paula Basnett is set to become the new leader of Wirral Council

Basnett, who was elected two years ago, said she would look to restore trust in the council's finances, speed up regeneration and housing projects, and focus on building cleaner, safer neighbourhoods.

Before she entered politics, she worked as an investment manager at Wirral Council before taking over the Wirral Chamber of Commerce following a funding crisis in 2013. She remains the organisation's chair.

The Chamber of Commerce has historically had a close relationship with Wirral Council, with the organisation receiving funding for a business support service contract as well as receiving £1.4m of Town Deal money to support the purchase and refurbishment of Egerton House in Birkenhead.

The building was sold in 2024 to the Chamber of Commerce for £1.9m.

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said the Chamber publicly criticised the council last year about a high turnover in the local authority's regeneration department and alleged lack of engagement with the business sector.

Though Basnett was copied into an email at the time, a representative for the Chamber said she had remained independent over the matter.

'Future direction concerns'

Commenting on the election, leader of Wirral's Conservatives Jeff Green said: "Wirral's Conservative councillors are not interested in the internal politics of the Labour Party but we are worried for the future direction of the council.

He said that over the last two years they had "worked constructively with all the parties to 'right size' the council, while tackling the issues inherited from previous Labour administrations".

Green said that while they waited to hear from the new leader of the Labour Group, "I can assure her, and the taxpayers of the borough, that our position has not changed".

"If it's good for the residents of Wirral and improves the performance of the council, we'll support it," he added.