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Liverpool’s Metro Mayor Candidates 2021: All you need to Know.

Tomorrow, on Thursday the 6th of May, the Liverpolitan people will be travelling in droves to their nearest polling station to vote on the future of the Liverpool City Region.

Yes, the 2021 Local Elections are almost upon us and the residents of Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, Wirral, St. Helens and Halton boroughs will all be able to vote for the councillors who they want to see represent them in their local ward. This year, Liverpolitans will also be provided with a ballot that will allow them to vote for their preferred candidate for the region’s metro mayor.

The metro mayor was a role first established in 2016 under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act and is a title that has only ever been held by Labour’s Steve Rotherham since 2017. Now while the Liverpool Metro Mayor does not hold the same powers as a First Minister or the Mayor of London, they do have a number of important roles vital to the cities development. The Metro Mayor is responsible for uniting Liverpool’s six boroughs and encouraging them to work collectively to better Liverpool’s economic and political position. Furthermore, the Metro Mayor has a duty, to the best of their ability, to attract investment and economic prosperity across the region. They also hold certain powers, such as the management of cross-borough services, like public transport. Hence, while they are limited in what they can do in comparison to other devolved positions, the metro mayor is instrumental for our region’s future development, whether that be economical, environmental or political.

This blog is intended to provide information on the Metro Mayor candidates to help voters make a more informed decision on who they want to see as the face and voice of the Liverpool City Region. Note: I do not intend to influence how the reader will vote, but I will be asserting my own opinions on the candidates, their policies, and the parties they represent. Furthermore, the policy information included has been taken from an LCR Mayoral Election 2021 guide in order to help readers gain a better perspective of the candidates.

Jade Marsden (Conservative Party)

Now being a Conservative candidate in Liverpool already puts Marsden at a significant setback. There has and still remains a long held stigma against the Tories dating back to Margaret Thatcher, as captured in the sentiment that “Scousers Hate Tories”. Though while one would seek to disregard Marsden from the get go, I must please ask you to hear what she has to offer to Liverpool before jumping to a conclusion.

Mrs. Marsden is a current resident of South Liverpool and formerly stood as the parliamentary candidates for both Bootle and Sefton Central respectively. According the Sefton Central Conservatives, Marsden’s “wealth” of experience of local politics would be beneficial in her ability to be a strong “Fresh Voice” for the Liverpool City Region.

Marsden strongly believes that it has been under Labour’s leadership that the LCR has been let down. As a result, we have missed out on key investment, transport improvements and well-paid jobs. Thus, the LCR needs a vision that delivers for future generations, offers a solution to air pollution and secures jobs and future investment. Marsden intends to offer this to Liverpool.

Is a Blue Liverpool the way forward?

Marsden, if victorious, intends to cooperate with Westminster to “get things done”. If she was to be elected, she would:

Not charge the Metro Mayoral Precept, part of the council tax that funds city region-wide services that the Metro Mayor is responsible for.

Ensure spending is widespread and not just focused on central Liverpool.

Lobby the government to make the region an urban national park to protect Liverpolitan green spaces and the coastline.

Work to end homelessness as we recover from the pandemic, as well as improve social housing that contains dangerous living conditions.

Improve regional transport connections.

Attract new investment to help out small businesses and the high street, in order to ensure that local people have good quality jobs.

Now while this may sound ideal, I do hold certain critiques of Marsden’s policy agenda.

First of all, the Mayoral Precept, as mentioned, is responsible for funding city region-wide services. Not charging it may allow tax payers to keep more money in their pocket, a possible benefit due to the impact of the pandemic. However, a cut to the Mayoral Precept will come at a cost for local services. Public transport, for instance, would lose out on funding as a result. This somewhat contradicts her pledge to improve regional transport connections.

Secondly, while the “urban national park” label may sound good on the surface, I cannot help but think this would put the LCR at a setback. Liverpool has beautiful natural scenery, the likes of Thurstaston Beach or Sefton Park is proof of this. Liverpool thrives on its green spaces. These spaces should be protected under law. However, I believe an “urban national park” status will put the city at a disadvantage. It is not clear whether Marsden’s urban national park intends to prevent development on disused docks in Liverpool or Birkenhead. Furthermore, there are well needed transport connections that would be vital for moving cargo to or from the Port of Liverpool. Liverpool’s urban development and economic prosperity cannot be jeopardised if Marsden seeks to attract new investment and create new jobs.

Yet there are key issues that I do agree with Marsden on. While the Liverpool name is the regional “brand”, investment has been too focused on central Liverpool. The city centre is thriving while town centres in Bootle, Birkenhead, Widnes, etc. are awaiting significant investment. However, Rotherham has only been in office for 4 years. Given time, he too could secure funding for locations beyond Liverpool City Centre.

Other things to Remember:

Above, I have chosen to insert an image of Southport town centre. Southport in the 2019 General Election was the only Liverpolitan constituency to vote Conservative, represented by MP Damien Moore since 2017.

Recently, Southport was awarded £37.5 Million in government funding to help in regenerating the town. This was one of the largest town deals that the government has agreed to. This money would allow the town to invest in existing attractions and all-weather attractions across the seafront, as well as attract new businesses to the area. It is believed that the masterplan will create 1,000 new jobs and it is predicted that Southport will enjoy a 1 Million increase in visitors per year.

This goes to show that there may be possible perks of having a Conservative representative for the region at a time where the Tory’s dominate Westminster. This may be something worth considering when casting your vote tomorrow. A vote for Marsden, may be a vote for an increase in Liverpool’s funding.

David Newman (Liberal Democrats Party)

Until recently, Southport local David Newman was not supposed to be the Lib Dem candidate for the Metro Mayor role. Newman “stepped forward” after the former candidate, Wirral councillor Andy Corkhill, was forced to withdraw because of his serious battle with cancer.

Newman understands that unlike other city region residents, he and his partner are fortunate to have a young family, work, own his own home and live a happy, healthy life. He identifies that others in our region are being left behind and he seeks to offer Liverpolitans a way to “Step Forward”.

Newman is offering voters to join him in creating real leadership in Liverpool and providing a real direction. Newman also seeks to tackle the climate emergency, fix the region’s broken transport system and provide hope for businesses effected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Are you ready to Step Forward?

Like all residents of the city region, Newman is aware of how our region has been tarnished by the actions of the city’s ‘political bosses’. It is the next Metro Mayor’s job to repair the damaged reputation caused by a handful of greedy politicians and ‘cowboy’ developers. Newman seeks to ‘clean up’ local politics and ensure that he is held accountable to the citizens of Liverpool.

Newman seeks to ensure that our region is welcoming, ensuring that all investments are ethical. He also seeks to launch a green recovery plan to tackle the current climate crisis. This would help in fixing the city’s reputation that Labour predecessors exploited for their own ends.

Newman also seeks to ensure no one in Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley, St. Helens or Halton are left behind. To do so, Newman intends to launch the UK’s first trial of Universal Basic Income (UBI) to put an end to the poverty that has plagued local communities. Newman also seeks to open up Liverpool to European and Global investment so that the city can once again be placed at the ‘Heart of the Globe’.

So what are Newman’s policies? For the purpose of this, I have divided his policies into four categories: Post Covid-19 Recovery, The Climate Emergency, Transport; A Global Region.

Post Covid-19 Recovery

Newman intends to deliver a new economic deal to create jobs, allow businesses to thrive and help out those in our community who have been left behind. He seeks to do this by:

Trialling UBI in Liverpool. Newman wishes to initiate a scheme that would make it so citizens would no longer have to rely on government welfare or the goodwill of landlords. Having UBI would make it so money is no longer an issue, it would allow people to learn new skills and bring an end to regional poverty.

Reinventing the High Street by introducing a number of services that people want and need, this includes child care and an expansion of hospitality.

Creating new jobs and allow for residents to develop new skills and undergo new training.

Supporting Small Businesses and the Self-Employed by fighting for a rent relief fund for small businesses in debt and relief payments for self-employed without property.

The Climate Emergency

Newman believes that Liverpool has an opportunity to become a beacon for national and international governments on how to tackle the climate emergency. He seeks to do this by:

Creating a Green Recovery Plan which would ensure that all infrastructure plans and investments are in line with what is needed to address the climate emergency. Newman also intends to create a clear carbon budget and carbon reduction pathway.

Ensuring that all parks and green spaces across the region are legally protected to prevent future development on the land.

Investing in Clean, Renewable Energy by advancing tidal power and investing into more wind farms.

Ensuring the Port of Liverpool in Net Zero Carbon by finding a suitable, sustainable way of moving freight (not by road) and advocating for the halting of the importation of industrial-scale North American biomass.

Transport

Newman wishes to make regional public transport more accessible by reducing ticket fairs and increasing services to locations currently underserved. His transport ideas also go hand in hand with his desire for tackling the climate emergency. Newman would improve transport by:

Fixing the broken bus network and delivering on Steve Rotherham’s failed promise to introduce Bus Franchising. As well as Introduce more flexible season passes and tickets so journey’s that involve more than one bus are easier to make.

Improving the Merseyrail network by reopening lines that currently lack passenger services, building new station and making existing ones more accessible to disabled passengers. Newman also intends to push for further electrification of the local rail network and reuse the Wapping Tunnel to give Merseyrail access to the City Line.

Investing into more cycle paths and walking opportunities.

A Global Region

Newman seeks to cooperate with European and International partners to allow Liverpool to be a major player on the world stage. Newman intends to:

Work with Greater Manchester and Stormont to create embassies in European and Global cities to assist with the development of trade, industry, university links, etc.

Encourage London- based High Commissions and Embassies to create Honorary Ambassadors to Liverpool.

Work with our international football clubs and use events like the Grand National and Southport Open to showcase the region and seek new opportunities.

I must say, Newman has a lot of policies. The question is, can he realistically deliver them? Trialling UBI, further electrification of the rail network; building tidal and wind energy farms, etc. are all very costly projects. It is possible that Newman will struggle to accomplish his ideas given the financial restraint placed upon the city region.

Furthermore, his global city policies tend to be very Eurocentric, describing Liverpool as a “proud European region”. The Lib Dems should know by now that alienating Brexiteers tends not to work out very well for them. I believe that there should be a focus not simply on Brussels, but also on countries beyond Europe, such as Canada, the U.S.A., Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

However, despite this, I am quite fond of Newman and what he stands for. I was particularly excited those for his transport policies as I for a long time have advocated for the reopening of the likes of the Wapping tunnel. It felt good to know that a metro mayor candidate shared this interest in disused lines. If you wish to read more of his policies, please visit: https://www.davidnewman.org.uk/

Gary Cargill (Green Party)

Actor Gary Cargill, known for his roles in Hollyoaks (2010-11,2013) and Peterloo (2018), is standing to be a Green Mayor (”For Everyone”) in the LCR. Cargill, Liverpool born and Runcorn raised, seeks to ‘turn the city region green’ and ‘inspire real long lasting change’.

His policies centre on the current climate emergency, thus prioritising environmental policies and protecting the most vulnerable suffering in our communities.

As a Green Mayor, Cargill promises the Liverpolitan people that he will:

Create new skilled jobs in Green Energy and Technology.

Build a clean, affordable transport system.

Invest in developing skills and training for young people.

Protect green spaces for future generations.

Establish a ‘People’s Assembly’ to ensure the Metro Mayor is completely accountable.

While all this sounds pretty generic and similar to previous candidates, Cargill goes a step further. Unlike his adversaries, Cargill discusses what he would do for each borough individually. This admittedly impressed me as he seems not to be focused on Liverpool collectively.

#GARY4HALTON - Cargill promises to push for an improved City Region-wide air monitoring system, particularly around sources of pollution.

#GARY4KNOWSLEY - Cargill wants to put Knowsley borough back on the map by making sure that local towns receive a fair share of regional investment and support.

#GARY4LIVERPOOL - Cargill will work towards having more safer and accessible walking and cycling networks. He also wants to develop cheaper and cleaner public transport.

#GARY4SEFTON - Cargill promises to protect Sefton’s green spaces from development and road building. He also wants to invest into more renewable energy along the Sefton coast, a valuable resource for wind a solar.

#GARY4ST.HELENS - Cargill wants to make sure that the Green Belt in St. Helens is protected. He wishes to stop local councils from building warehouses in Haydock, Bold and Newton which risk “destroying our natural environment”.

GARY4WIRRAL - Cargill insists that due to the climate emergency, the Liverpool region’s economic growth is not as important and cannot remain constant. However, Cargill wants to take advantage of regeneration opportunities, like Wirral Waters, to invest in a circular economy that provides Green Jobs in renewable energy and housing.

It is clear that Cargill, as expected from a Green candidate, is passionate about the Liverpool region’s environment. Of all of his ideas, my favourite is his idea for making use of the Sefton coastline’s valuable resources for solar and wind energy.

However, I personally I see more flaws in Cargill’s policies than I see sensible ideas. Cargill has made clear that the climate emergency is the number one priority for Liverpool, even our regional economy is expendable for the sake of the environment. Environmental issues are undoubtedly important, but how does Cargill hope to fund his policies if he is willing to sacrifice Liverpool’s economic recovery?

This was also reinforced during his debate with Steve Rotherham where he openly condemned Liverpool’s free port status as a “Thatcherite race to the bottom”. Despite the opportunities for job creation and investment the free port could bring to Liverpool, he wishes to scrap it. As Rotherham commented, without this status, industries and opportunities will be exported to the North East. Liverpool cannot afford to pass up on investments like the Free Port.

From what I can gather, based on the policies I have seen and his appearance on the Granada Reports debate, the Greens are too one policy focused. This could be extremely detrimental for our region. Yet I could be biased, is a ‘Green Mayor’ the way forward?

Steve Rotherham (Labour Party)

The final candidate running for the Metro Mayor position is none other than Steve Rotherham who, tomorrow, is up for re-election.

Having held the metro mayor title since 2017, Rotherham promises to ensure that if he was to be elected once again, there will be ‘No One Left Behind’. Rotherham promises that he will ‘stand up for everyone’ across the Liverpool region, but how has his track record been so far?

During his time as metro mayor:

Liverpool (pre-Covid) became the fastest growing economy in the UK. Rotherham also points out his management to attain another £232 Million to fund transport, skills and tackling homelessness.

Public Transport saw Improvement. Northern’s stripped franchise aside, during Rotherham’s time as mayor, Merseyrail opened its first station in 20 years and claimed to have taken steps to take control of the region’s buses and rail infrastructure.

Young People were Helped. £48 Million was invested into upgrading school/college facilities.

He ‘Fought Injustice’ through spending £8 million to develop a Housing First pilot to tackle homelessness. He also supported 1,300 families into work.

He lowered the toll for the Mersey tunnels to the lowest it has ever been.

Was this enough for a first term? I argue no.

In terms of transport, the new Merseyrail Class-777 trains are yet to appear on our lines. Whether or not their launch has been delayed due to Covid-19 or not, the metro mayor should have already launched the service to prove his commitment to a “London Style Transport System”. Furthermore, only opening one Merseyrail station in your first term is not an achievement. Maghull North was opened to the public in 2018, yet it took Rotherham until 2020 (his last year in office) to begin working on Headbolt Lane? I also have heard little about the supposed reopening of St. James Street. I don’t think this is good enough.

Also, as Newman pointed out, Rotherham has completely failed to deliver improved and nationalised bus services. In fact we are now “9 months behind Manchester” according to Rotherham himself. To put it simply, he failed to deliver on his promise that will Liverpool will be the first city outside of London to have a nationalised transport infrastructure. In fact, he has allowed Liverpool’s closest rival, Manchester, to get ahead in the fight for better public transport.

Speaking of Manchester, in 2020 the Republic of Ireland declared it would be opening a consulate in the North in order to “Strengthen our Bonds”. The contenders for this consulate were Liverpool and Manchester. You would think that Liverpool, given its history and much closer association with the Irish people would be chosen for the consulate. Yet, this is not what happened. Rotherham allowed, with seemingly little fight, for the consulate to go to our neighbour. One could argue that Andy Burnham has become the Mayor of Manchester and Liverpool.

How has he allowed for Liverpool to be outcompeted by our closest rival?

Now onto his response to Covid-19...

Rotherham claimed that during 2020, he took on Boris Johnson and Westminster to win more money to funding for testing, vaccinations and furlough. Though, I would have to argue that it was Andy Burnham who stood up for the people of the North. Rotherham was in fact nowhere to be seen. His track record is definitely something to be made aware of when voting for Metro Mayor.

No One Left Behind

However, while he may not be the ideal candidate based on his track record, it is still worth considering his policies before casting a final decision.

Rotherham, if re-elected, has promised to deliver:

A £150 million Covid Recovery Fund, double the number of Green Jobs and would work towards a more locally controlled London-style transport network.

A Guarantee to Young People that a job, apprenticeship or training opportunities will be made available for all school leavers within 6 months of becoming unemployed.

Greater control of the transport system with the new trains coming into service and tap-in tap-out ticketing being introduced. Rotherham also promises a cycle revolution.

A Green New Deal that will ensure that Liverpool leads the Green Industrial Revolution. He will double the number of green jobs, harness the power of the Mersey (invest into renewable energy) and ensure our region is on track to be net zero by 2040.

A Digitally Connected Region, achieved through the deliverance of ultrafast broadband infrastructure across the entire region. This would make Liverpool the most connected region in the country.

Now Rotherham does have some good policies. The question is can he deliver them?

However, it should be noted that Rotherham may not have to worry about re-election. As a twitter user put it, ‘Hitler could be a labour mayor and win’. The Liverpool region, despite years of neglect and being overlooked, is a Labour stronghold. This gives Rotherham a boost in his effort to be re-elected.

Closing Thoughts

I hope this article has allowed you to understand all the candidates in greater depth. The Metro Mayor is an important figure for our region and we must ensure that the right person gets the job. So, make sure you find the time to go out and vote tomorrow!

Best of luck to all the candidates!

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