FORMER minister for Merseyside Lord Heseltine last night insisted Liverpool needs an elected mayor if it is to compete with the world’s top cities for investment.

The Conservative peer said it is intolerable that London has an elected mayor to speak up for its interests but a “great city” like Liverpool does not.

Today Lord Heseltine will unveil details of the government’s £1.4bn regional growth fund (RGF) in a speech at Liverpool town hall. He is the chair of the advisory committee on the RGF.

Yesterday he spent the day meeting business leaders, opening Hope University’s new business gateway, and touring the city which he helped rebuild after the 1981 Toxteth riots.

He said the momentum that Liverpool has now developed was extremely exciting.

“What’s happening has no parallel since the Victorians built this city,” he said.

Liverpool voters will be asked in a referendum on May 5 next year – the same day as local elections – whether they want a directly elected mayor.

Lord Heseltine was instrumental in persuading Prime Minister David Cameron to adopt the policy.

Yesterday he said: “I have the fondest memories of my association with Liverpool. It really was formative in the history of urban regeneration in this country from the 1980s onwards.

“In the three weeks I spent here one absolutely indelible lesson was burnt in my understanding – there was no one in charge.