Liverpool mayoral race in chaos as Anna Rothery sues Labour
March 6, 2021, 12:11 pm

Liverpool mayoral race in chaos as Anna Rothery sues Labour

Rothery is currently in the ceremonial role of lord mayor of Liverpool

Party is warned it could lose control of city, as councillor removed from its shortlist takes legal action

A councillor is suing the Labour party after she was removed from the shortlist to become the party’s mayoral candidate in Liverpool, along with two other female councillors.

The legal action – brought by Anna Rothery, who holds the ceremonial position of lord mayor of Liverpool – is the latest messy chapter in what one local MP described as the “shitshow” surrounding Labour’s handling of one of its most loyal cities, which has not elected a Tory MP since the 1970s.

The party in Liverpool has been in turmoil since December, when Joe Anderson, Labour’s incumbent mayor, was arrested as part of a police investigation into corrupt property deals. He denies all wrongdoing but stepped down, prompting a rush to find a successor to contest May’s elections.Labour has now selected two relatively inexperienced councillors for the role: 25-year-old Anthony Lavelle, who works for a local MP, and 50-year-old Joanne Anderson (no relation), a business consultant who spent 10 years working for the Crown Prosecution Service on community engagement.Both warn that Labour could lose Liverpool, with Lavelle urging the party to “get a grip” and warning “we don’t have a divine right to run this city”. Anderson believes Labour’s reputation has been “extremely damaged” in recent months in Liverpool and reminds the party that although there is currently just one non-Labour MP in the whole of Merseyside (a Conservative in Southport), the city has never had a “Labour council when we have had a Labour government in”. During the New Labour years the Lib Dems controlled City Hall. Winning Liverpool “is not a fait accompli”, she cautioned.Anderson describes herself as a “leftwing socialist”, who voted twice for Jeremy Corbyn to become Labour leader. She is black and believes having a black mayor would be “tremendous” for representation in the multicultural city. Lavelle voted for Yvette Cooper and then Owen Smith and says his candidacy is a “clean break from the past”.

They face strong competition from independent candidate Stephen Yip, an Anglo-Chinese Liverpudlian who has run a local children’s charity since the 1970s. Despite voting Labour his whole life and describing himself as a “pragmatic socialist”, the 66-year-old argues Liverpool needs “a reset” and has become a “laughing stock”. He believes that it will take a non-partisan approach to restore trust in Liverpool’s politicians and get the city back on track. The son of a Chinese sailor and white Liverpudlian, he said having a mixed race mayor would be “a real positive for the city”.

The Liverpool mayoral election uses the supplementary vote system, where voters enter both a first- and second-choice candidate. If no one gets more than 50% of the vote the second choices are allocated to the top two candidates. This has sometimes made it easier for independents to win, as seen recently in Middlesbrough and nine years ago in Bristol.

Rothery was barred from running to be the city mayor two weeks ago when the Labour party suddenly had a change of heart about all three women it had originally selected.

The party has consistently refused to reveal why she was removed from the shortlist, along with two of Anderson’s former deputies, Ann O’Byrne, and current acting mayor, Wendy Simon.

Rothery is black, and various senior politicians on the left of the Labour party suggested racism had played a role in her deselection, with the former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott tweeting: “Faced with the possibility of a black female socialist winning, party bureaucrats have scrapped the selection process & barred her from standing. An appalling abuse of party democracy.”

But Rothery’s legal claim is for “breach of contract”, with the publicly available case summary making no mention of racial discrimination. It was filed on Thursday against David Evans, the general secretary of the Labour party.

Joanne Anderson has attracted the support of Kim Johnson, MP for Liverpool Riverside. As the city’s only black MP, she told the Guardian she was happy to support a “sister”, who has done “an awful lot of work around race equality and has a good reputation as a hard-working local councillor”.

While she conceded that the Labour selection process had been “a shitshow”, she had little time for accusations of a “stitch-up” against the left. She also put out a statement noting that she had spent her career calling out racism wherever she saw it, including in the Labour party, but didn’t believe that it played a role.

Most of the high-profile voices coming to Rothery’s defence came from outside the city, she said, noting that Rothery had few supporters among black-led organisations in Liverpool.

Rothery did have some supporters closer to home, including Liverpool MPs Dan Carden and Ian Byrne, who signed an open letter on Tuesday telling Keir Starmer that if Rothery’s legal case proved she was treated unfairly, she must be reinstated on the ballot. “The party’s actions would otherwise appear discriminatory and further damage the party’s reputation and its standing with BAME communities,” they wrote.

But Johnson argues all the three candidates could easily put the speculation to bed, as they will know why they weren’t allowed to reapply, based on the questions they were asked when re-interviewed.

A Labour spokesperson said the party did not comment on ongoing legal action but said: “In Joanne and Anthony, Labour members in Liverpool have the choice between two excellent candidates who are both rooted in their communities and have outstanding campaigning and organisational skills.

“They offer the city a new leadership, which is proud of its strong values and diverse communities. They are both fully committed to moving Liverpool forward out of the coronavirus crisis and fighting for the resources that the city desperately needs.”

Labour party members in Liverpool will vote for their favoured candidate from next week, with the result expected on 29 March.

source: Helen Pidd

Levant

Scottish government discounted legal advice to give up fight with Salmond Leak reveals UK Foreign Office discussing aid cuts of more than 50%

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).

Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.