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Liverpool chooses UK’s first directly elected black female mayor

Joanne Anderson is first woman to lead the city and one of the few pieces of good news for Labour
Liverpool has made history by choosing the UK’s first directly elected black female mayor and the first woman to lead the city.
The election of Joanne Anderson was one of the few good news stories for Labour on Friday. Anderson, 50, beat Stephen Yip, an independent, while the Conservative candidate, Katie Burgess, lost her deposit. Anderson won 59% of the total votes (46,493 to Yip’s 32,079), although the race went to second preferences for the first time in its history.
In her victory speech, the 6ft-tall leftwing socialist apologised to the people of the city for the political scandal that had erupted last December when the former mayor, Joe Anderson (no relation), was arrested over corruption claims, leading to a damning emergency inspection of the council. He has denied any wrongdoing, but stood aside from the mayoral race.
Joanne Anderson promised to put the city on “a restorative path” and said she wanted Liverpool to have “the best accountability and transparency structures in the country”. Describing herself as “scouse and proud”, she said she was honoured to be the first black woman in the role. “Liverpool has always been a city of firsts – one that does things differently and that charters its own path. Today, we made history”.
When she was chosen as Labour’s candidate, Anderson spoke of growing up in Thatcher’s Britain in the 80s, feeling as though she was “the bottom of the pile” and “wouldn’t amount to much” and has promised to make politics more inclusive. Her historic appointment may be short-lived, however, as she has has said she would campaign to scrap the mayoralty.A referendum will be held in 2023 on the continuation of the role.
Anderson, who served as a councillor for two years, has said she was reluctant to get into politics. Describing her decision to put herself forward last month, she said: “It hasn’t been a lifelong ambition, but I could see our city was in peril”. However, she did grow up in a political environment, raised by a “fiesty” single mother who, she said, once locked some political figures in a cupboard “for not doing as they were told”.
Anderson, who has one son, says she will make violence against women and girls a personal priority. She prides herself on her forthright manner, and speaks openly about having been declared bankrupt twice, in 2003 and 2019. She believes many Liverpudlians will identify with her situation, particularly after the pandemic: “It’s actually quite hard to live without getting into debt”.
She worked as a freelance equality and diversity consultant, including for the CPS for 10 years, at a time when Keir Starmer was director of public prosecution.
Simon Woolley, the founder and director of Operation Black Vote, described her victory as “a truly historic win on so many levels”, pointing to the significance of Liverpool, once a major slave port, being run by a black woman.
Yip, her opponent, is founder of the children’s charity Kind and stood on a platform of reforming the local authority, including a big reduction in the number of councillors.
source: Maya Wolfe-Robinson
Levant
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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