Authority Members by Party

At the time of the Annual Meetings of each of the five District Councils in May/June of each year, appointments are made to the Authority. Districts have the discretion to re-appoint existing Members or to replace them with other Members, subject to statutory requirements for political balance.

Appointments are also subject to the fulfilment of statutory notification periods, which in some circumstances require a notice of one month to be served prior to appointment yet in other circumstances allow for immediate appointment. Should, for whatever reason, an elected Member cease to be a Member of the District Council which appointed them, they automatically cease to be a Member of the Authority and it is for the District to nominate a replacement.

Once appointed each Member has a responsibility to the public of Merseyside as a whole and not just to the district from which they have been nominated.

Of the 18 elected Members of the Authority, 13 are Labour, 2 are Liberal Democrats, 1 is Green Party, 1 is Liverpool community independent and 1 is conservative.

The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 provides for the division of Members into political groups where appropriate notification is submitted to the Clerk. Not all of the seats on a Committee may be allocated to one Group and if one Group has a majority of the membership of the Authority, then that Group must have a majority of Members on each Committee.