Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson has named a new deputy just months before the role is scrapped altogether.
In four months time, Liverpool Council will move away from a mayoral model and return to a leader and cabinet structure at the executive level of the local authority. This however has not prevented the current incumbent naming a new deputy to serve alongside her in the cabinet.
In an email, seen by the ECHO, Mayor Anderson confirmed to colleagues that Cllr Frazer Lake has been appointed to the role of statutory deputy mayor, taking over from Cllr Jane Corbett. This is a procedural move, with Fazakerley Labour Cllr Lake now in a position to formally chair cabinet meetings and deputise for Mayor Anderson when required.
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Previously, Cllr Corbett had stepped into the breach in the Mayor’s absence. She will remain as a deputy Mayor and continue with her responsibilities for fairness and tackling poverty in cabinet.
The Everton ward member, who intends to stand in May’s all out elections in the new Everton West ward, explained why the change had been made. She said: “My husband Henry has been a vicar for 44 years in Everton and at the end of this month he’s retiring.
“As a result, we’ll have to move house, it’s a big month for us so I’m taking a step back. I’ll be staying on in cabinet and Frazer will step up to chair any meetings and act as statutory deputy in Joanne’s absence.
“We work closely together already and I’m standing in May’s elections, I’m not going anywhere.” In her email to councillors, Mayor Anderson said Cllr Lake, who already holds the health and social care portfolio alongside acting as lead for contracts and commissioning, had been a “great asset to my cabinet and the wider council” and said he would bring “his enthusiasm and experience to his new role.”
She added: “My continued thanks to Councillor Corbett for her hard work and support over the last two years.” It is the second change in role for Cllr Corbett in a matter of months, having moved away from the finance brief last year amid the fallout from an expensive energy contract mix-up that engulfed the city council.
Mayor Anderson told the ECHO it had always been the intention for her to take on the role from Cllr Corbett, a position she herself has since vacated for new Labour group leader Cllr Liam Robinson ahead of May’s ballots.
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