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Steve Rotherham standing in a street, with a row of terraced houses in the background

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Mayor Steve Rotheram will weigh up devolution at Edge Hill University event

November 23, 2022

Liverpool City Region’s Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram will be guest speaker at an Edge Hill University event to debate whether devolution has already gone far enough or has further to go.

He will focus on what more he thinks needs to be done to make devolution a national success and will discuss why he thinks this would benefit the city region and the wider north.

After more than five years in office, he will also talk about his role as metro mayor, how he is working with the UK government and what his priorities are for the Liverpool City Region.

Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “Devolution has given the Liverpool City Region the chance to chart our own course and invest in projects that not only deliver for our local economy – but which make a genuine difference to people’s lives.

“Because for far too long, too many people in our area have been held back from fulfilling their true potential, not by a lack of talent, but by a lack of opportunity. By making decisions locally – instead of those in the Whitehall and Westminster bubble deciding our fate for us – we’re not only connecting our residents to new opportunities but making sure they can access them too.

“I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made over the past five years; but I’m not content with resting on our laurels. I’m on a mission to make the Liverpool City Region the fairest, most equal place in the UK, where no one is left behind.”

The event, which will include a public Q&A, takes place on Monday 28 November, from 3pm to 4pm. Find out more and to book your place.

Edge Hill’s Politics Lead Paula Keaveney said: “Since 1997 devolution in the UK has gathered pace. The UK now has a Scottish Parliament, a Welsh Assembly, a London Assembly, and a raft of locally elected Mayors taking big decisions and facing big responsibilities.

“But there are questions about its success, Boris Johnson famously never spoke to the leaders of Scotland and Wales, and although he championed levelling up the north, talk of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ has all but disappeared.

“So, we must ask ourselves, is this the end point of devolution, do we have further to go, or should we reverse this process?”

Steve Rotheram has been in politics since 2002 and was a Liverpool City Councillor, Lord Mayor, and was elected as a Labour MP in 2010. He was elected as the first Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

The event has been organised by Edge Hill’s Institute for Social Responsibility which aims to make a positive impact on societal issues through cross-disciplinary research and knowledge exchange activities. It also regularly holds events, seminars, workshops and lectures so check for updates or join the mailing list. Learn more about the work of the ISR on their homepage www.edgehill.ac.uk/isr/.  

For more information about this event please contact [email protected].

November 23, 2022

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