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Liverpool needs to appoint “The Special One”

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has been hailed as the only credible candidate to successfully lead the city region’s proposed new combined authority.

Citing his track record on the national and international stage, private sector lobby group Downtown Liverpool In Business (DLIB) labelled Mr Anderson “The Special One”, dismissing Wirral council leader Cllr Phil Davies and other potential rivals as a safe but underwhelming “David Moyes” option.

DLIB chief executive Frank McKenna claimed any other choice of leader would further discredit the organisation following the “nonsense” surrounding its proposed name of Halton, Sefton, St Helens, Knowsley Liverpool and Wirral combined authority.

He said: “Manchester United had a decision to make in the summer – how to replace the most successful British manager of all time. They ultimately dismissed the obvious, cast iron candidate in Jose Mourinho, preferring instead to take the supposedly safe if less charismatic option of David Moyes, a man with no frontline experience at the top table.

“Results suggest this may have been an error and my fear is that the combined authority threatens to take a similarly ill-judged and ill-fated decision in its appointment of a leader.

“In Joe Anderson, Liverpool has an elected city mayor with a massive electoral mandate; someone with a profile at regional, national and international level. During his leadership, the city has continued to grow, with more private sector jobs being created in the city than ever before.

“He has brought international events like the Global Entrepreneurship Congress and the International Festival for Business to the city, while successful jaunts overseas to Shanghai Expo, MIPIM and the United States add to his impressive CV – not to mention his bold move to open a Liverpool Embassy in London.

“Despite all of this, and the fact that the city he leads accounts for over 70% of activity in the city region, the leader of Wirral has been mooted to chair the new combined authority. Presumably this would be a one year appointment, and then we would have ‘Buggins Turn’ with the other areas taking their place at the head of the table periodically. What nonsense.

“If the name of the new body hasn’t already done so, then this type of political manoeuvring and game playing will most certainly turn the business community and potential investors off.

“Joe Anderson may not share Jose’s Portuguese flair or looks, but in Liverpool city region terms he is ‘The Special One.’ He is the only individual politician who can begin to restore credibility to an already discredited organisation, and the only one that can guarantee success.

“We need to appoint Mayor Anderson as the leader of a Liverpool City Region Combined Authority – or accept that a decline in our performance is inevitable.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dan Minchin .