Liverpool councillors fail in attempt to scrap elected mayor role

Liverpool's mayoral election is due to take place on 6 May

A group of Labour councillors has failed in an attempt to try to scrap the role of elected mayor in Liverpool.

The Labour Party voted against the proposal to change the way the city is run in a meeting on Saturday.

The move followed a decision by the national Labour party to scrap a list of three candidates to replace Joe Anderson ahead of May's election.

The party is yet to explain its reason behind the decision prompting a row within the Labour group.

Candidates were being selected after Mr Anderson was suspended from the Labour Party following his arrest in December on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation.

Mr Anderson has said he would not fight for re-election in May.

But some members of the city's ruling group are furious after the national Labour Party rejected the agreed shortlist and told the three councillors not to enter again.

On Thursday, Labour MPs in Liverpool Paula Barker and Kim Johnson also called for the role to be removed in favour of a "more democratic model of governance".

The Liberal Democrats were preparing a similar motion to put before full council as early as next week.

Legal advice

Losing the role of elected mayor would have removed the prospect of either Labour Party HQ imposing a candidate who Labour councillors did not support or - even more unpalatable to them - potentially facing the election without a candidate and losing the position to a rival party.

Council leaders are chosen by councillors from the ruling party, mayors are directly elected by the public.

However, it appears legal advice circulated to all parties over the weekend suggested any move to ditch the mayoral model could have left the authority open to legal action.

This is because the council voted only a few weeks ago not to change the governance model at this stage, but to hold a referendum on the issue in 2023 instead.

A lack of any 'meaningful' consultation with the public on any proposed changes could also have prompted legal challenges.

Labour's revised selection process is under way, with fresh interviews for candidates taking place.

Councillor and Chair of Merseytravel Liam Robinson's confirmed he has put his name forward.

But significant anger remains in the Labour group, as it is far from united on this issue.

While a significant minority supported the move, a majority did not. Even without the legal advice, there's still support for the role of mayor and the direct benefits it can bring to a city.

A motion agreed at Saturday's meeting proposed by Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, who is also a ward councillor in Everton, heavily criticised the party's decision calling for the selection process to be halted and for more transparency around what has happened.