Wirral’s Conservative leader said he has made the “tough decision” to stand down at the next election.
Cllr Tom Anderson, who currently leads Wirral’s second largest party, said he made the decision for personal reasons “to achieve a much more stable and sustainable work life balance.”
He has been one of the councillors for Greasby, Frankby and Irby since 2014 when he won by just four votes and was elected as leader of the Conservatives in May 2021 on a platform of protecting Wirral’s green belt.
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Cllr Anderson said: “I have taken the very tough decision not to seek re-election in May 2023. This is a very much a personal decision in order to achieve a much more stable and sustainable work life balance.
“It has been a great privilege to be elected, on three occasions, to serve the residents of Greasby, Frankby and Irby. However, now is the right time for me to step aside and give someone else the opportunity to represent such a wonderful community.”
“Until May, my focus remains delivering the very best services that our residents want and rely upon.”
Cllr Anderson was re-elected two more times in 2016 and 2021 increasing the vote share with each election most recently with 54% of the vote.
In 2022, he led the Conservatives into the elections that saw their share falling 7.1% in the vote but still picked up a seat in Pensby and Thingwall.
Cllr Tracy Elzeiny will now be the only sitting councillor running in the ward at the next election with Cllr David Burgess-Joyce already confirming he will not be re-running to be a councillor. He was deselected by the Conservatives in July.
While Cllr Anderson's decision is not related to the upcoming elections, Greasby, Frankby and Irby is considered a competitive seat for Labour who lost by 64 votes in 2022.
One local election expert in Liverpool said there’s a possibility the Conservatives could lose a lot of seats at the local elections because of changes to all-outs and national polling trends.
In a statement announcing he was standing down in May, Cllr Anderson remained critical of Labour, Wirral's largest party. He said: “In order to set a balanced budget, we need to make savings. For 12 years, the Labour administration has tinkered and toyed.
“They have been admonished for their own governance and financial failures in two independent reports and chased failed vanity schemes, such as the Hoylake golf resort, which everyone told them was folly.
“Other councils have used the time to make the changes needed, encourage new businesses to set up, and to create the revenue the council needs. Now, there is no doubt, some hard decisions will have to be taken as Labour, yet again, runs out of other people’s money.”
Council leader Janette Williamson has previously hit back at Cllr Anderson for similar criticism, calling it a “tired list of perceived misdemeanours.”
She has pointed to cuts in funding for councils since 2010 arguing this is the reason for the council’s current financial difficulties. She said: “Nobody would argue with the fact that people want their grass cut and clean streets but they also want a well-funded council that looks after the elderly and vulnerable children, that tackles health inequalities.”
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