A UNIQUE project is being set up which aims to answer the complex question of who governs Merseyside, and whether they are accountable to the public.

Organisers hope it will shed light on who wields power 25 years on from the abolition of the Merseyside County Council.

The first of two debates will take place at the Bluecoat Arts Centre tomorrow evening, followed by a public vote.

“Who Governs Merseyside” is part of the arts centre’s Democratic Promenade exhibition, which runs until the end of November, and has been co-organised by the Democratic Audit which is based at the University of Liverpool.

Dr Stuart Wilks-Heeg, director of the Democratic Audit, said: “It’s an incredibly difficult question.

“You start out and think the answer might be obvious, but the more you look at it, the more difficult it gets.

“Ultimately it is subjective. It’s why we have got the panel of experts for their own views, and it is why we have got the public vote. It does not mean we are going to get a scientific answer of who has power, but we will have gone through a number of stages and that will give us an informed view.”

Tomorrow, a panel of experts will debate who they think are the top five most powerful people, and then the public will have a week to submit their own suggestions.

The panel includes BBC radio host Roger Philips, former Liverpool council leader Lord Mike Storey, and Blackburne House Women’s Technology Centre chief executive Claire Dove.

Professor of Economic Geography at the European Institute for Urban Affairs at John Moores University, Richard Meegan, and Phil Knibb, chief executive of the community- based education campus Communiversity, in Croxteth, will also be on the panel.

Each panellist will give a three-minute speech and nominate five people who they believe wield the most power.