Joanne Anderson

Joanne Marie Anderson (born 7 January 1971) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the second and final directly elected Mayor of Liverpool from 2021 to 2023. She previously served as the Liverpool City Councillor for the Princes Park ward from October 2019 to May 2021. She was the first woman to be Mayor of the city and the first black woman to be a directly elected mayor in the UK. Anderson left office in May 2023 at the end of her term.

Early life Anderson was born in Liverpool in 1971.

Anderson left school at 16 with no qualifications, but completed a degree in Business Studies as a mature student. She completed a BA in business studies at Liverpool John Moores University between 1996 and 1999, and is currently completing an MBA at the same university.

Career Anderson's worked as a civil servant for the Crown Prosecution Service for over a decade. and has served on the Education and Children's Services Select Committee.

Anderson launched the first Black-led social enterprise in Liverpool

Mayor of Liverpool

Anderson became Labour's candidate for Mayor of Liverpool following the announcement by incumbent Mayor Joe Anderson (no relation) that he would not run for re-election following his arrest in December 2020. She became the party's candidate after the selection process re-opened and the three initial candidates (Acting Mayor Wendy Simon, Lord Mayor Anna Rothery, and former Deputy Mayor Ann O'Byrne) were barred from running. She was elected Mayor of Liverpool with 59.2% of the vote in a second round of voting, since she failed to secure 50% of the votes in the first round. She is the first black woman to be a directly elected Mayor in the UK and vowed to develop a strategy supporting ending violence against women and girls and implement the recommendations of the Caller Report, which highlighted "serious failings" in the city council's leadership.

In 2022 a public consultation was held regarding Liverpool City Council's leadership model. Despite public support for the Mayoral model, the council voted to scrap the role and move to a leader and cabinet system. The role of Mayor of Liverpool was abolished and in the 2023 Liverpool City Council election Anderson did not stand for election.

Personal life Anderson described herself as a single mother of a teenage boy in 2018, and represents unity within the city, in contrast to the rivalry between Liverpool and Everton.