Liverpool City Council
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox legislature Liverpool City Council is the local authority for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the majority of local government services in the city. The council has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority since 2014.
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010. It meets at Liverpool Town Hall and has its main offices at the Cunard Building.
History
Liverpool was an ancient borough, having been granted its first charter by King John in 1207.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It had a mayor from at least 1292.<ref name=mayors>Template:Cite web</ref>
Municipal borough
Liverpool was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Liverpool', generally known as the corporation or town council. As part of the same reforms, the borough boundaries were enlarged to match the larger Liverpool parliamentary constituency, which had been expanded in 1832 to include the neighbouring parishes of Everton and Kirkdale and part of West Derby.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The corporation created a police force in 1836.
Liverpool was granted city status in 1880, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Liverpool was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough, independent from the new Lancashire County Council, whilst remaining part of the geographical county of Lancashire.<ref name=VoB>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1893 the city was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The city boundaries were enlarged on several occasions, notably gaining Wavertree, Walton and parts of Toxteth and West Derby in 1895, Fazakerley in 1905, Allerton, Childwall and Woolton in 1913, the rest of West Derby in 1928, and Speke in 1932.<ref name=VoB/>
Liverpool's first female councillor was Eleanor Rathbone, elected in 1909. Eighteen years later, Margaret Beavan became the first female Lord Mayor in 1927.<ref name=mayors/>
Metropolitan borough
The city was reformed to become a metropolitan district in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It kept the same boundaries as the former county borough (which had last been adjusted in 1956) and became one of five metropolitan districts within the new metropolitan county of Merseyside.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> Liverpool's borough and city statuses and its lord mayoralty passed to the reformed district and its council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
From 1974 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by Merseyside County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to Merseyside's five borough councils, including Liverpool, with some services provided through joint committees.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>
During the 1980s, the Militant group gained control of Liverpool's Labour Party. Under their leadership the council attempted to challenge the national government on several issues, including refusing to set a budget in 1985. The leadership of the national Labour Party was drawn into the controversy, ultimately expelling members of Militant, including the council's deputy leader, Derek Hatton, in 1986.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2012 the council introduced the position of Mayor of Liverpool as a directly elected mayor to serve as the council's political leader instead of having a leader of the council chosen by the councillors. The position was separate from the more ceremonial role of the Lord Mayor. The directly elected mayor position was abolished in 2023 and the position of leader of the council was reinstated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Since 2014 the council has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which has been led by the directly elected Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. The combined authority provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for certain functions across the region, but Liverpool City Council continues to be responsible for most local government functions.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The council's chief executive, Ged Fitzgerald, was suspended in 2017 and subsequently resigned in 2018 following an investigation by Lancashire Constabulary into financial irregularities relating to a joint project between Lancashire County Council and British Telecom (BT) during Fitzgerald's tenure as chief executive of the county council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The police investigation subsequently widened to investigate alleged criminality at the city council and the Merseyside pension fund too. In 2020, it was reported that the city council's accounts since 2015 had not been signed off by its auditors on account of the 'complex ongoing police investigation'.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref>
In December 2020, the elected mayor, Joe Anderson, was arrested as part of an anti-corruption investigation. The Labour Party suspended Anderson on news of his arrest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> He did not resign as mayor but stood back from active duties, handing effective control to the deputy mayor, Wendy Simon, for the remainder of his term of office to May 2021. As of April 2024 no charges had been brought against him, but the investigation had yet to conclude.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 24 March 2021, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, announced that he was appointing commissioners to oversee some of the authority's functions for at least 3 years. This was following an investigation, commissioned in December 2020 that found there were "multiple apparent failures" and a "deeply concerning picture of mismanagement" in the council.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":11">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The commissioners remained in post until June 2024. Following improvements in the council's performance and management, the intervention was then scaled back to less direct supervision, due to last until March 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Governance
Liverpool City Council provides metropolitan borough services. Some strategic functions in the area are provided by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority; the leader of Liverpool City Council sits on the combined authority as Liverpool's representative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are no civil parishes in the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Political control
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the council was run by the Conservatives. Labour councillors were first elected to the council in 1905, but Liverpool was one of the last major cities in the UK in which the Labour Party gained control, which first occurred in 1955.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Municipal borough
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 1835–1841 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1841–1892 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1892–1895 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1895–1953 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1953–1955 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1955–1961 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1961–1963 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1963–1967 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1967–1971 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1971–1972 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1972–1974 | |
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "Liverpool" in search box to see specific results.)</ref><ref name=gain>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=defection>Template:Cite news</ref>
Metropolitan borough
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 1974–1983 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1983–1992 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1992–1996 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1996–1998 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1998–2010 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2010–present | |
Leadership
The role of Lord Mayor of Liverpool is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. Between 2012 and 2023 the council had a directly elected Mayor of Liverpool (a separate post from the Lord Mayor) instead of a leader. The directly elected mayor position was abolished in 2023 and the position of leader reinstated. The leaders since 1918 have been:
County Borough leaders
The last leader of the council before the 1974 reforms, Bill Sefton, went on to be the first leader of Merseyside County Council.<ref name=Independent12Sep2001>Template:Cite news</ref>
Metropolitan Borough leaders
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyril Carr<ref name=LE22Jan1975>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 1 Apr 1974 | 22 Jan 1975 | |
| Bill Smyth<ref name=LE22Jan1975/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | Jan 1975 | May 1976 | |
| John Hamilton<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LDP17May1978/> | Template:Party name with colour | 18 May 1976 | May 1978 | |
| Trevor Jones<ref name=LDP17May1978>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LE6May1983/> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1978 | May 1983 | |
| John Hamilton<ref name=LE6May1983>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LE21Nov1986/> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1983 | Nov 1986 | |
| Tony Byrne<ref name=LE21Nov1986>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LE13Mar1987/> | Template:Party name with colour | Nov 1986 | Mar 1987 | |
| Trevor Jones<ref name=LE13Mar1987>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Watson/> | Template:Party name with colour | Mar 1987 | May 1987 | |
| Harry Rimmer<ref name=Watson>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1987 | 5 Oct 1987 | |
| Keva Coombes<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Hope/> | Template:Party name with colour | Oct 1987 | May 1990 | |
| Harry Rimmer<ref name=Hope>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1990 | May 1996 | |
| Frank Prendergast<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LDP8May1998/> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1996 | May 1998 | |
| Mike Storey<ref name=LDP8May1998>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1998 | 25 Nov 2005 | |
| Warren Bradley<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 7 Dec 2005 | May 2010 | |
| Joe Anderson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 25 May 2010 | 6 May 2012 | |
Directly elected mayorsTemplate:Efn
| Mayor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Anderson<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn | Template:Party name with colour | 7 May 2012 | Dec 2020 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | Dec 2020 | 9 May 2021 | ||
| Joanne Anderson<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 10 May 2021 | 7 May 2023 | |
Metropolitan Borough leaders
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liam Robinson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 17 May 2023 | Present | |
Composition
Following the 2023 election,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to July 2025, the composition of the council was:<ref name=Thorncliffe>Template:Cite web</ref>
The next election is due in 2027.<ref name=Thorncliffe/>
Elections
Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2023, 85 councillors have been elected from 64 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
These are the wards since the 2023 local elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear
Premises
Council meetings are held at Liverpool Town Hall at the junction of High Street, Dale Street and Water Street, which was built between 1749 and 1754.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> The council's main administrative offices are located in the Cunard Building at Pier Head, which had been completed in 1917 as the headquarters of the Cunard Line. The council bought the building in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 1868 until 2016 the council's main offices were the Municipal Buildings on Dale Street. The Municipal Buildings were sold in 2016 after the council decided they were too large and costly to maintain and following the transfer of most offices to the Cunard Building.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Coat of arms
References
External links
Template:Liverpool related articles Template:Local authorities in Merseyside Template:Metropolitan districts of England Template:Authority control