Heseltine joins elected mayor for Liverpool call

Dec 8 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

FORMER “minister for Merseyside” Lord Heseltine yesterday threw his weight behind the campaign to have an elected mayor for Liverpool.

During a two-day visit to the city Lord Heseltine said it was ridiculous that major cities like Liverpool employed highly-paid “bureaucrats” as chief executives but had council leaders much lower down the income scale.

He added the roles of council leader and chief executive should be scrapped and replaced with a single elected, highly-paid and high profile individual.

“If you look at big cities in other parts of the world they have such people who drive forward change with dynamism,” he said.

“The creation of such roles where people have the freedom and spontaneity to make major decisions is long overdue in this country.”

Liam Fogarty, chairman of amayorforliverpool.org, told the Daily Post last night that Lord Heseltine was “spot on” with his comments.

He said: “Part-time councillors and unelected officials cannot give Liverpool the dynamic and accountable leadership it needs.

“Just look at the Mathew Street fiasco – no one is in charge.

“We need someone working full-time and flat out as Liverpool’s champion, someone chosen directly by Liverpudlians.

“An elected mayor would have the power to knock heads together and make a real difference to Liverpool.”

Lord Heseltine also said that if Liverpool’s economic recovery was to continue then it had to be public sector-led.

He said that when he came to Liverpool in the early 1980s to help reverse the region’s severe decline, he made sure he brought together both the public and private sectors.

He founded the Merseyside Development Corporation which set up regeneration projects like the one at the Albert Dock.

“Looking around Liverpool today I can see that the transformation has been fantastic – confidence is everywhere,” he added. “What we are seeing is the most exciting urban renewal since the Victorian age.

“City renaissance has to be public-sector led.

“There is a lot of talk about small businesses driving the recovery but what happens is that when those businesses achieve any sort of degree of success then they will leave.

“Urban renaissance isn’t about what is going to happen tomorrow or even next year – it is about what you are going to do over the next quarter of a century.

“To really change the nature of a city and to build greatness you have to have a long term vision.”

HESELTINE BACKS CITY REGENERATION CONFERENCE: PAGE 13

tonymcdonough