Sefton Borough at 50, a former Council Leader has his say

I was a member of Sefton Council from 1999 to 2015 and Council Leader 2004 to 2011. During this time and indeed for a number of years prior Sefton had been balanced with no one party in overall control. After much party political pushing and shoving a tripartite political management structure evolved with the then 10 person Cabinet being made up of councillors from each of the three major parties represented on the Council, the Leader coming from the largest party. This somewhat odd (for UK politics) arrangement, in my view, actually worked remarkably well as it took two parties to make something happen.

Sefton was the creation of the Boundary Commission, during the huge upheaval of local government reorganisation which came into effect in 1974 and it was pretty much an unwanted child across the board. At best it was an unholy compromise with much political and indeed community opposition, but the die was cast.

Now, 50 years on, we can look back with hopefully nowhere near as much anger as was generated at Sefton’s birth. Yes, Sefton is still the weird geographical creation that it was on day one, resembling a forefinger and thumb in shape. Bootle is cut off from Liverpool in an arbitrary way, Southport’s hinterland is all within West Lancs Borough and Lydiate is the thumb sticking out surrounded on 3 sides by West Lancs. Is there a stranger local government arrangement in England?

So geographically Sefton is most odd but it’s lasted for 50 years and there’s no sign of it changing as far as I can see.

Hailing from what became known as the East Parishes part of the Borough (Maghull, Lydiate, Aintree Village, Melling and Sefton & Lunt Villages) I was elected to a council which had always been dominated by Bootle and Southport. Indeed, there’d never been a political leader from outside of these two political powerhouses. Then in 2004 I was elected Leader breaking that mould. Having said that, after I stood down as Leader in May 2011, things reverted to ‘as you were’ and have stayed that way ever since.

When once asked by a journalist what it was like leading a Cabinet and Council with three political parties in the mix I responded by saying it sometimes felt like I was the political equivalent of a circus ringmaster. This was not meant in a derogatory way, it was just political reality. Oddly, you may think, I actually enjoyed my time as Council Leader making friends across the political spectrum and this bearing in mind that I’m a Social Liberal of the left and probably the most left of centre Leader the Council has had.

UK politics, egged on by the media, is pretty much always seen as far too partisan and frankly, at times, childlike. However, my experience as Council Leader made me realise that below the over the top political mud-slinging significant agreement about local matters was indeed possible, if you worked at it.

I suppose the really big difference now is that there aren’t any newspapers in the Borough to hold politicians to account and report, for good or ill, on their activities. So, by implication, the Council must be becoming more remote other than for obviously biased party political leaflets/propaganda.

Sefton at 50 is still diverse, as it was on day one. A seaside town, a post-industrial urban town with a lot of smaller communities in between which are sometimes unkindly referred to as ‘bed and breakfast land’ and more politely as commuter-belt for Liverpool.

So, do I wish Sefton a Happy 50^th Birthday? Well yes, not least because it has survived when back in 1974 no one gave it more than 10 years, at best. I also like its diversity. Where else will you find some of the highest grades of agricultural land in the UK, a successful modern port, a seaside resort, a run of top links golf courses and the maddest road junction in England – Switch Island?

I wish Sefton well, although, in my view its bizarre geography should have been tackled years ago. Personally, I agreed with John Prescott’s plan to move a significant piece of West Lancs into the Borough. It was right then and still is now, but I guess that’s a controversial view which won’t necessarily be widely shared. Happy Birthday Sefton.