Liverpool City Council: Former mayor to lead independent group

Anna Rothery will lead the new Liverpool Community Independents group

A former Lord Mayor of Liverpool has been named as the leader of a new opposition group on the city council.

Anna Rothery will lead the new Liverpool Community Independents group.

It is formed of five Labour councillors who resigned from the party after being suspended when they voted against the annual budget, and three other ex-party members.

The group will be the third biggest on the council, after Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

They were among seven councillors who in March said they could not support "brutal" cuts and the introduction of garden waste collection charges.

The budget was approved in February as the council tried to make £34m savings.

Ms Rothery left the Labour party last year.

She had been a Labour councillor since 2006 and became the first black Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 2019.

She put herself forward to be Labour's candidate for elected mayor in 2021 but was dropped from the short-list, leading to a legal battle with the party.

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