Liverpool residents have voted to retain the position of directly elected city mayor.
In March, Liverpool City Council launched a three-month consultation asking residents:‘How would you like Liverpool City Council to be run?’
The results of the survey, which were published on Friday, saw 40.9% (4,709 votes) of those who took part choose the option of a city mayor who is directly elected by voters every four years.
Nearly a third of the voters (32.9% or 3,793 votes) backed the option of a council led by one or more committees made up of elected councillors.
Nearly a quarter (23.6% or 2,721 votes) gave their support to a system whereby the leader is chosen by a vote of other elected councillors.
The council received 11,519 valid responses. Around 2.5% (296 votes) said they had no preference.
The consultation, which was held online and via postal ballot, included a letter being sent to every household on the electoral roll in the city.
The consultation details will go to full council on 20 July, to be discussed and voted upon by all of the city’s 90 councillors.
City solicitor, Dan Fenwick, said: ‘The Council’s objective was to reach out to as many people in Liverpool as possible to ensure they knew about the consultation, so that they could have their say, over the future governance of Liverpool City Council.
‘The results of this consultation will now be reported back to Full Council, which will make the final decision on whether to keep the mayoralty or move to a different model of governance from May 2023.’
