Anna Rothery is a British politician who served as the

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The office of Lord Mayor of Liverpool has existed in one form or another since the foundation of Liverpool as a borough by the Royal Charter of King John in 1207, simply being referred to as the Mayor of Liverpool. The position is now a most ...

from September 2019 to May 2021.Liverpool: First black mayor succeeds race row councillor
13 August 2019. Accessed 10 October 2020.

Early life

Rothery is a daughter of Bernadette and Hubert George Rothery. She was born and raised at Belvidere Road in the city of Liverpool in the 1950s. Anna's father died when she was a child and her mother had to take care of Anna and her three siblings. Rothery was educated at Granby Street Primary School, St Silas Junior School, and Paddington Comprehensive School. She studied sociology, psychology and law at University. She earned a master's degree in Business and Regeneration.

Career

Since 2006, Rothery has represented the Princes Park ward in the Parliamentary constituency of Liverpool Riverside. From 2010–2013, she was the Chair of the Culture, Tourism and Sport select committee in Liverpool. Rothery became the first councillor of Liverpool to speak at the

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on Religious, Linguistic and Cultural differences in 2012. She is the North West Ambassador for the British Institute for Human Rights, and is a member of various different groups, such as Merseyside Common Purpose and

Operation Black Vote Operation Black Vote (OBV) is a British non-partisan and not-for-profit national organisation, established in 1996 to address the Black British and ethnic minority democratic deficit. OBV has recruited church leaders to persuade people to register ...

, a scheme which aims to get more

Black, Asian and minority ethnic A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

people into politics. She is the Programme Coordinator for Migrant Workers North West.

Lord Mayor of Liverpool

In September 2019, Rothery became the first black Lord Mayor in the history of the city of Liverpool after her predecessor resigned. This is a civic role and is bestowed on the individual by the city’s Mayor, rather than being an elected role. During her term as Lord Mayor, Anna fundraised for local charities, including Anthony Walker Foundation, LCR Pride Foundation and Merseyside Somali Association.

Candidacy for Mayor of Liverpool

In 2021, she was shortlisted as one of three candidates to be the Labour Party's candidate for

Mayor of Liverpool The mayor of Liverpool is the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The incumbent mayor is Joanne Anderson, who was elected in May 2021. The mayor of Liverpool was previously branded 'the most powerful politician in England outs ...

, alongside former deputy mayor Ann O'Byrne and acting mayor

Wendy Simon Wendy Simon is a Labour Party politician who exercised the powers and duties of the office of Mayor of Liverpool from 2020 to 2021. Mayor Joe Anderson temporarily stepped aside in December 2020. Although Anderson formally remained as Mayor unt ...

, following the announcement by incumbent Joe Anderson that he would not run for re-election. On 14 February 2021, Rothery announced via

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that, if elected, she would campaign to scrap the mayoral model in Liverpool. O'Byrne and Simon also announced that they intended to campaign to scrap the mayoral model. On 17 February, Rothery, Simon and O'Byrne were told that they would be reinterviewed, sparking claims of a stitch-up by the Labour Party establishment. Six days later, all three were scrapped as candidates and told not to reapply. In a statement, Rothery said: "I welcomed the deviation last week from the formal National Executive Committee process to include more scrutiny of candidates but not to remove transparency and accountability from the process. I hope party HQ sees the outrage its decision has caused across our city and the harm it is doing to our party's reputation and changes course. If the decision stands, then I will be left with no choice but to challenge it legally." On 6 March, Rothery announced that she was suing the Labour Party. The case was rejected and she was ordered to pay £65,000 to cover Labour's legal costs. Rothery said she was disappointed with the outcome. On 23 November 2021 she announced her resignation from the Labour Party due to a lack of confidence in its national leadership. She indicated her intention to remain as an Independent member of Liverpool Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothery, Anna Year of birth missing (living people) People from Toxteth Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Living people Mayors of Liverpool Women mayors of places in England Black British women politicians Women councillors in England