Vacant city seat election date set

Aug 7 2007 by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

A BY-ELECTION to fill the town hall vacancy caused by the death of former Lord Mayor Joan Lang will take place on September 13, the council announced last night.

Nominations open on August 9 and close at 12 noon on Thursday August 16.

Councillor Lang served as Lord Mayor until May when she stood down at the council’s annual meeting.

Aged 81, Cllr Lang was due to stand for re-election when her four-year term as a ward councillor ended next May.

Labour already had her seat in their sights following their victory last May when long-standing Lib-Dem councillor Richard Roberts was beaten by Ann O’Byrne with a slim majority of just 194.

The third Warbreck seat is held by the late Lord Mayor’s daughter-in-law, Cllr Jean Seddon, who is also a Lib-Dem member of the council.

Labour will see the by-election as an opportunity to gauge public opinion, particularly after the shambles of the cancelled Mathew Street Festival and the £20m funding gap for the culture year budget.