Councillor loses Liverpool Mayor shortlist court case

Anna Rothery was one of three candidates in the running to stand for Labour in the city's mayoral election

A councillor who wanted to be Labour's candidate for mayor of Liverpool has lost a High Court bid to force the party to include her on the shortlist.

Anna Rothery was one of three candidates in the running to stand for Labour in the city's mayoral election, due to take place on 6 May.

But the party scrapped its list of all candidates in February with no explanation.

Mr Justice Cavanagh refused an application for an interim injunction.

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

Mr Anderson said he would not fight for re-election in May due to the police investigation.

Last month, Labour said it was reopening the selection process for the party's candidate and that the three previous candidates, including Ms Rothery, would not be considered.

She then took legal action against the party and applied for an interim injunction requiring Labour to include her "as a shortlisted candidate" on the ballot for party members.

At a remote hearing on Monday, her barrister David Lemer said Ms Rothery was not trying to "mandate that she should be the Labour Party's candidate", but wished to be placed "on the shortlist so that the membership can vote for its candidate".

Gavin Millar QC, for Labour, said the party "re-interviewed" Ms Rothery and removed her from the shortlist because "there was a clear risk of political damage to the party".

The court heard "concerns" were raised that she "impugned the integrity of the other candidates" at a hustings event, which she denies.

Mr Millar told the court: "We can understand that the claimant is unhappy with the outcome, but that does not mean that she has a legal claim."

Mr Justice Cavanagh refused Ms Rothery's application for an interim injunction, saying the decision to remove her from the shortlist was a "quintessentially political judgment" the party was entitled to make.

The judge also ordered her to pay Labour's legal costs of defending the application, which were just over £65,000.

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