Mayor of Liverpool

The Mayor of Liverpool is Joanne Anderson. She was elected on 6th May 2021 by the residents of Liverpool and is responsible for the council's executive functions and the day-to-day running of the organisation.

These include leading the city, building investor confidence and directing new resources to economic priorities.

The City Plan for Liverpool, launched on 1st October 2021, and is a plan to make Liverpool one of the best cities in the world - a city that is known for its creative reinvention, passion, resilience, and its commitment to community and fairness. 

Mayor's cabinet

The Mayor chairs the cabinet which is made up of members appointed by her with defined responsibilities or 'portfolios':

• Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Fairness and Tackling Poverty: Councillor Jane Corbett
• Climate Change and Environment – Councillor Dan Barrington
• Neighbourhoods – Councillor Abdul Qadir
• Development and Economy – Councillor Sarah Doyle
• Education and Skills – Councillor Tom Logan
• Adult and Children’s Social Care – Councillor Frazer Lake
• Culture and Visitor Economy – Councillor Harry Doyle

More about Mayor Joanne

Political focus

Mayor Joanne was elected as Liverpool’s first female Mayor in May 2021, after serving as a councillor for Princes Park ward for two years. She is proud to be the first black woman to be directly elected as a Mayor in the UK. She strongly believes Liverpool’s City Plan will help build a better, fairer city for all. She is committed in particular to empowering communities and promoting equalities. She is passionate about delivering the ‘All Voices’ pledge and ensuring that everyone is given a voice in their future. 

At 19, Joanne was voted in as shop steward in a male-dominated workplace. Active in the Transport and General Workers Union, she held several positions within the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) structures, Women’s and Young Members forums as well as a member of the TUC Race Relations Committee.

Career highlights

Joanne has had a varied career. After leaving school with no qualifications, she went away to work in hotels when she was young in roles such as waitress and barmaid, and then came home and worked as an administrator. 

Joanne has nearly three decades of experience as an equality, diversity and inclusion practitioner. Whilst her early career started in and is embedded in the voluntary sector, she has always been interested in business, and completed a BA in Business Studies as a mature student in her late twenties. 

Joanne is extremely passionate about social enterprises and businesses with purpose, believing strongly in the triple bottom line. She set up the first black social enterprise, Innervision community consultancy in Liverpool in 2000 and has also worked as a civil servant as the community engagement policy lead within the Crown Prosecution Service. She returned to consultancy in 2017 and is a business consultant trainer, facilitator and coach. She recently started an MBA in business scale up.

Personal details

Liverpool born and bred, Joanne was brought up in Netherley and has three half siblings and a foster sister. She has a large extended family, with her mum being one of ten and her dad one of seven. Joanne has also called Sydney, Australia, the Isle of Man and London, home at different points in her life.