LIVERPOOL: Joanne Anderson wrote her name in the history books as she has become the first black woman to hold the top political job at Liverpool City Council.
The maritime city has made history by electing Joanne Anderson as Mayor in the recent polls held on Thursday. The mother of one bagged the polls after voting went to second preferences, winning 59.2 per cent of the vote whereas the opponent candidate Stephen Yip remained runner up with 40.8 per cent.
According to reports of British media, the labour party leader received a total of 46,493 votes after the first and second preference votes were counted.
She is an equality and diversity consultant by profession, while her experience in public administration is for few years. Interestingly, she has twice been declared bankrupt.
The civic buildings in Liverpool lit up tonight to celebrate me becoming the first black woman to be directly elected mayor in the UK.
Liverpool has always been a city of firsts. I am proud of our city ✊🏾🌹 pic.twitter.com/6vIAUYCOSx
— Joanne Anderson (@MayorLpool) May 8, 2021
The 51-year-old after clinching the title of the first black woman in port city’s history said ‘I really want to show what an excellent job I can do for the city’. She expressed apologies to the city over Anderson arrest.
Assuring the people to make everything in order, accountability, transparency and authority is what the residents of Liverpool deserve, she said. Adding that we have so much opportunity ahead of us, particularly as we build the city that we want post-Covid.
Let it be known that Anderson was selected as Labour candidate after the previous mayor, Joe Anderson was detained along with a group of four, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. The Labour party, which remained in power for a decade, come under fire in recent times when the former mayor got arrested.
