The leader of Liverpool’s Labour group wants May’s elections to be a “fresh start” for the relationship between his party and the city.
In 48 days time, people across the city will go to the polls to choose 85 new councillors to form Liverpool’s next local authority. Hoping to lead the city is Kensington and Fairfield ward member Liam Robinson, who in front of Liverpool’s MPs and a slate of candidates, set out Labour’s manifesto for May’s ballot.
Cllr Robinson told assembled guests and officials how Labour’s manifesto was a “contract” with the people of Liverpool. In his introduction to the document, he wrote how the group was seeking to “win the trust and faith” of the electorate in May.
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Speaking to the ECHO, Cllr Robinson said he would acknowledge where the council had gone wrong before. He said: “I'm never going to shy away from that, because as I said we don't take anybody's support for granted and that's not just about asking for people's vote, but it's about having that long, deep connection with the people of the city, and the Labour Party accordingly.
“Yes, there have been occasions over the past few years where we haven't got it right, I’m not gonna sweep that under the carpet, we'll deal with that appropriately and make sure that those kinds of things are never ever repeated.” Labour is standing in all 85 new seats across Liverpool, with Cllr Robinson describing the group’s members as “exceptional” and said if elected, each one would be “ready to go from day one.”
Cllr Robinson said he was “really excited” about the new and young candidates standing this time around, adding he felt the slate of party activists seeking roles was “an important part of the mix as well of how the Labour Party in the city has changed.” He added: “It's not just about how, as a party, we'll be more professional, it's also about how hopefully, the next council administration will become even more professional.”
The former Liverpool City Region transport committee chair said he would seek to tighten up the group’s conduct process, vowing to “take action on it” whereby candidates and councillors do not act with propriety. He said: “We can't genuinely be seeking the trust of the people of the city and then somehow have any kind of elements that don't kind of act in the same way that we should be, so we will always be very strong on that.”
Earlier this week, the Labour Party took the Liverpool group out of special measures, something Cllr Robinson said was a “huge vote of confidence” and a “mark of the progress we’ve made.” He said despite that, it was not a moment for complacency and set lofty ambitions to go further.
Cllr Robinson said: “How do we go even further, and become an exemplar Labour council for the rest of the country? That's very much our vision.
“We actually want to be seen as the best council in the country that the next Labour Government will work with.” May’s elections come amid a series of major changes at Liverpool Council.
Andrew Lewis is to come in after the ballot as the new permanent chief executive, while the Mayoral model is being scrapped for a leader and cabinet set up, something Cllr Robinson hopes to be at the forefront of. He said: “I think this is very much about a fresh start, not just the Labour party, but also the council.
“I think you've got to remember that yes, we've had big changes in the local Labour party, but there’s been some big changes in the council in terms of some of the senior team, the way it's been restructured, and particularly the way that I'll be focusing, if I'm leader, the council, and with the new chief executive of the council, it will all be about delivery.”
One of the flagship policies Cllr Robinson announced at the launch was the pledge to make Liverpool a zero homelessness city. Asked to explain how Labour would actually achieve it, he said: “We obviously want to be suitably ambitious, because nobody should have to be spending time on the streets or not in their own home.
“I think in terms of the detailed ways that we want to do it, is we want to build on particular very successful housing first project that the city region has done, where it's not just about giving someone a roof over their head, as vital as that component is, it's about having all those support mechanisms around that, we want to do a lot more of that accordingly and minimising the times when people might have some form of relapse that leads them back out of their home.”
Cllr Robinson said Labour wants to build “at least 8,000” new homes to help achieve its vision. Last year, Liverpool Council missed a deadline to deliver a new homelessness shelter and had to give back £4m to the government as a result.
The group leader said Liverpool “cannot ever afford” to find itself in that situation again. He added: “That’s money owed to the people of the city to deliver their services, not for whatever reason, being taken back to a far off place called Whitehall.”
Following the publishing of the latest commissioners’ report into the city council which said the five-person panel had “reasons for cautious optimism” for Liverpool, Cllr Robinson said he wanted to “extend the very good productive working relationship I already have with the commissioners” and ensure they leave in June 2024 “on time.”
The Labour group chief said he felt there was no reason for the intervention to extend and he wanted to “get to the place where the commissioners are comfortable with the council that they can then leave.”
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