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Frank McKenna welcomes first mayor of Liverpool

Frank McKenna, chair of Downtown Liverpool in Business, shares his views on the newly elected Liverpool Mayor.

I’m delighted (although not surprised) that Joe Anderson has been elected as the first mayor of Liverpool.

The city has seen vibrant debate and discussion over the last few months, including during our own event with three of the main candidates. The election race has not been without controversy: There was the decision not to hold a public referendum on the matter; the ten candidates were criticised for a lack of diversity, all being white men; and right-wing candidates from the BNP and National Front stood.

But ultimately there was only ever one man who was going to be the right choice, who stood head and shoulders above the rest from the beginning. Joe Anderson secured the city deal that will now see £130 million invested in Liverpool, and that’s just for starters.

Joe knows that it’s his job to make sure the rest of the country knows Liverpool is open for business. He said himself in our DLiB mayoral debate held last month that his door would always be open to talk on the subject.

As leader of the city council, which had been for nearly two years before being elected mayor, he took great strides in creating dialogue between the council and business leaders; acknowledging that the relationship had not been good enough in the past, and many opportunities for growth and job creation were lost as a result.

Not only does Joe have the experience behind him to know what he’s doing, he has passion for the people of Liverpool and a vision to take us into the future. Peel Waters and the SuperPort project will be among the massive projects bringing long-term investment and positive change throughout the city.

Liverpool is now in a strong position to deliver a whole raft of vital development programmes and the additional private investment will make a huge economic difference across the region.

A range of powers will now be devolved to Liverpool under the city deals initiative to give the city what it needs to attract private investment, close skills gaps and create new jobs.

Here’s to the future. Congratulations, Joe.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Frank McKenna .