Authority Members

Appointment

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.

Political Composition

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.

Councillor
Councillor	Political party	District
Councillor Jeanie Bell	Labour	St Helens MBC
Councillor Leslie T. Byrom CBE Chair of the Authority Home: 01704574859 Home mobile: 07836621059 Home: leslie.byrom@councillors.sefton.gov.uk	Labour	Sefton Council
Councillor Tracy Dickinson	Labour	St Helens MBC
Councillor Edna Finneran Chair of Scrutiny	Labour	Knowsley
Councillor Sam Gorst Liverpool City Council c/o Minority Group Office, 6th floor, Cunard Building, Liverpool, L3 1AH	Liverpool Community Independents	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Janet Grace Chair of Audit Committee Work: 0151 474 9931 Work: janet.grace@councillors.sefton.gov.uk	Labour	Sefton Council
Councillor Dave Hanratty Labour Group Office, Cunard Building, Liverpool, L31AH	Labour	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Brian Kenny Vice-Chair of the Authority Work: 0151 538 5488 Work: briankenny@wirral.gov.uk	Labour	Wirral
Councillor Doreen Knight	Labour	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Ed Lamb	Green Party	Wirral
Councillor Andrew Makinson	Liberal Democrats	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Barbara Murray	Labour	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Lynn O'Keeffe	Labour	Knowsley
Councillor Chris Page Chair of Pension Board	Labour	Sefton Council
Councillor Lesley Rennie Home: 01516448137 Home mobile: 07795450497 Work: lesleyrennie@wirral.gov.uk	Conservative	Wirral
Councillor James Roberts Vice-Chair of the Authority Labour Group Office, Municipal Buildings, Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2DH Work: 0151 225 2366 Work: james.roberts2@liverpool.gov.uk	Labour	Liverpool City Council
Councillor Lynne Thompson Opposition Spokesperson Home mobile: 07955 803814 Work: lynne.thompson@councillors.sefton.gov.uk	Liberal Democrats	Sefton Council
Councillor Gillian Wood Home mobile: 07493 142 672 Work: gillianwood@wirral.gov.uk	Labour	Wirral