Liverpool City Council#Council wards

Liverpool was an ancient borough, having been granted its first charter by King John in 1207.{{cite book |title=Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Appendix 4 |date=1835 |page=2691 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHBTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA2691 |access-date=6 June 2024}}{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 |date=1911 |pages=1–4 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp1-4#h3-s5 |access-date=6 June 2024}} It had a mayor from at least 1292.{{cite web |title=Former Mayors and Lord Mayors |url=https://www.liverpooltownhall.co.uk/former-mayors-lord-mayors-city-liverpool/ |website=Liverpool Town Hall |access-date=6 June 2024}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=680}}{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Boundaries Act |date=1832 |page=349 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uq0uAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA349 |access-date=6 June 2024}}{{cite book |title=Municipal Corporations Act |date=1835 |page=457 |url=https://archive.org/details/statutesunitedk35britgoog/page/456/mode/2up?q=Liverpool |access-date=6 June 2024}} The corporation created a police force in 1836.

File:Municipal Buildings, Liverpool.jpg: Council's main offices 1868–2016|242x242px]]

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.{{cite web |title=Liverpool Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10027317 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=6 June 2024}} In 1893 the city was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor.{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 |date=1911 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=38–41 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp38-41 |access-date=6 June 2024}}

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.

Liverpool's first female councillor was Eleanor Rathbone, elected in 1909. Eighteen years later, Margaret Beavan became the first female Lord Mayor in 1927.

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.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|schedule=1|access-date=30 May 2024}} Liverpool's borough and city statuses and its lord mayoralty passed to the reformed district and its council.{{cite web |title=District Councils and Boroughs |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/mar/28/district-councils-and-boroughs#S5CV0871P0_19740328_CWA_145 |website=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) |access-date=30 May 2024 |date=28 March 1974}}{{London Gazette|issue=46334|page=7419|date=28 June 1974}}

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.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1985|year=1985|chapter=51|access-date=5 April 2024}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Naughtie |first1=James |title=Labour in Bournemouth |url=https://www.theguardian.com/century/1980-1989/Story/0,6051,108249,00.html |access-date=7 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=2 October 1985}}{{cite news |title=On this day, 12 June 1986: Labour expels Militant Hatton |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/12/newsid_2511000/2511839.stm |access-date=7 June 2024 |work=BBC News}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Vinter |first1=Robyn |title=Liverpool council votes to scrap three-mayor system |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/21/liverpool-council-votes-to-scrap-three-mayor-system |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=21 July 2022}}

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.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Sefton and Wirral Combined Authority Order 2014|year=2014|number=865|access-date=5 June 2024}}{{cite web |title=Understand how your council works |url=https://www.gov.uk/understand-how-your-council-works |website=gov.uk |access-date=30 May 2024}}

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-41313624|title=Liverpool City Council boss Ged Fitzgerald suspended amid fraud probe|work=BBC News|date=18 September 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-council-chief-ged-fitzgerald-14656399|title=Liverpool council chief Ged Fitzgerald RESIGNS with immediate effect|first=Liam|last=Thorp|date=14 May 2018|website=Liverpool Echo}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-council-chief-executive-ged-13074151|title=Liverpool council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald arrested|first=Marc|last=Waddington|date=22 May 2017|website=Liverpool Echo}} 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'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-councils-accounts-not-signed-18487490|title=Liverpool council's accounts not signed off for five years|first=Tom|last=Duffy|date=28 June 2020|website=Liverpool Echo}}

File:Town Hall Liverpool council chamber.jpg

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/05/cooperating-fully-police-liverpool-mayor-joe-anderson-arrest-fraud|title=I'm cooperating fully with police, says Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson|date=5 December 2020|website=The Guardian}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-55192375|title=Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson arrested in bribery probe|work=BBC News|date=12 April 2020}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Humphries |first1=Jonny |last2=Hamilton |first2=Claire |title=Ex-mayor 'like a recluse' since police probe |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n13x5gxvzo |access-date=8 June 2024 |work=BBC News |date=19 April 2024}}

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.{{Cite web|title=Secretary of State statement: Liverpool City Council|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/secretary-of-state-statement-liverpool-city-council|access-date=2021-03-24|website=GOV.UK|date=24 March 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite news|date=2021-03-24|title=Liverpool City Council: Commissioners to oversee authority|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-56507888|access-date=2021-03-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/972756/Liverpool_Best_Value_inspection_report.pdf|title=Liverpool City Council: Best Value inspection report (publishing.service.gov.uk)|accessdate=15 August 2023}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Coleman |first1=Jenny |title=Liverpool City Council handed back decision-making powers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz5dx73j3m1o |access-date=7 June 2024 |work=BBC News |date=8 May 2024}}

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.{{cite web |title=Committee details |url=https://liverpoolcityregion-ca.moderngov.co.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=364 |website=Liverpool City Region Combined Authority |access-date=5 June 2024}} There are no civil parishes in the city.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=30 May 2024}}

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.{{Cite journal|last=Jeffery|first=David|date=2017-08-01|title=The strange death of Tory Liverpool: Conservative electoral decline in Liverpool, 1945–1996|journal=British Politics|language=en|volume=12|issue=3|pages=386–407|doi=10.1057/s41293-016-0032-6|issn=1746-918X|doi-access=free}}

Municipal borough

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:{{cite web |title=Compositions calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/?page_id=3825 |website=The Elections Centre |access-date=10 August 2022}}{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/council/html/3714.stm | title = Liverpool | access-date = 2010-05-07 | work = BBC News Online | date=2009-04-19}}{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7379008.stm | title = Defection confusion in Liverpool | access-date = 2010-02-17 | date = 2008-05-02 | work = BBC News Online}}

Metropolitan borough

The role of Lord Mayor of Liverpool is largely ceremonial role. 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.

Metropolitan Borough leaders

Directly elected mayors

{{notelist}}

Metropolitan Borough leaders

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2023/may/04/elections-2023-results-live-local-council-england#le-full-results|title=Local elections 2023: live council results for England|work=The Guardian}}

The next election is due in 2027.

{{also|Liverpool City Council elections}}

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.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Liverpool (Electoral Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=1365|access-date=7 June 2024}}{{cite web |title=New electoral arrangements for Liverpool City Council Final Recommendations |url=https://www.lgbce.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/liverpool_final_recommendations_report.pdf |website=Local Government Boundary Commission for England |access-date=25 June 2023 |page=49 |date=September 2022}}

These are the wards since the 2023 local elections.{{cite web |title=Ward Maps |url=https://liverpool.gov.uk/council/key-statistics-and-data/ward-information/ward-maps/ |website=liverpool.gov.uk |publisher=Liverpool City Council |access-date=25 June 2023}}

{{Clear}}

File:Cunard Building landside 2018.jpg: Council's main offices]]

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.{{NHLE|num=1360219|desc=Town Hall, Water Street, Liverpool|grade=I|fewer-links=yes|accessdate=29 August 2022}} 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.{{cite news |title=Cunard Building purchase plan agreed by Liverpool Council |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-24496523 |access-date=6 June 2024 |work=BBC News |date=11 October 2013}}{{cite web |title=Council agenda, 24 June 2022 |url=https://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/documents/g19482/Agenda%20frontsheet%2024th-Jun-2022%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=0 |website=Liverpool City Council |access-date=29 August 2022}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Houghton|first1=Alistair|title=Remembering Liverpool's Municipal Buildings|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/looking-back-liverpools-municipal-buildings-12384741|website=Liverpool Echo|access-date=1 January 2017|date=31 December 2016}}

{{main|Coat of arms of Liverpool}}

{{Infobox COA wide

|image = Coat of arms of Liverpool City Council.svg

|year_adopted = 1797

|escutcheon = Argent a Cormorant in the beak a Branch of Seaweed called Laver all proper.

|crest = On a Wreath of the Colours a Cormorant the wings elevated in the beak a Branch of Laver proper.

|supporters = On the dexter Neptune with his Sea-Green Mantle flowing the waist wreathed with Laver on his head an Eastern Crown Gold in the right hand his Trident Sable the left supporting a Banner of the arms of Liverpool on the sinister a Triton wreathed as the dexter and blowing his Shell the right hand supporting a Banner thereon a Ship under sail in perspective all proper the Banner Staves Or.

|motto = 'Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit'{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php/Liverpool_(England) |publisher=Heraldry of the World |accessdate=26 January 2024 |title=Liverpool (England)}}}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wikinews category|Liverpool}}

• {{Official website}}

{{Liverpool related articles}}

{{Local authorities in Merseyside}}

{{Metropolitan districts of England}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Liverpool City Region

Category:Metropolitan district councils of England

Category:Local authorities in Merseyside

Category:Leader and cabinet executives

Category:Local education authorities in England

Category:Billing authorities in England

Category:1974 establishments in England

City Council