Granada Joe Anderson

The directly elected Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, is throwing his hat into the ring to become Labour's candidate for the Liverpool Walton constituency.

It's possible the area's current MP, Steve Rotheram, wont stand in the General Election as he's currently running to become directly elected Mayor of the City Region, covering Merseyside and Halton.

If Mr Anderson, who's led Liverpool as council leader and Mayor since 2010, won the Walton seat, it could mean yet another election in Liverpool - this time to replace him as Mayor of the city.

Responding to the news, the Liberal Democrat leader in Liverpool called for the city mayoral post to be abolished.

Cllr Richard Kemp described the role as 'redundant' once the city region mayor is elected.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has hinted that the much celebrated 'Giants' might be returning to the streets of Liverpool.

According to the Liverpool Echo Mr Anderson said he was holding talks with Jean Luc Courcoult, the director of Royal de Luxe, the French theatre company that created the giant marionettes.

The hugely successful giants have already come twice to Liverpool, first in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic and again in 2014 for the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One.

It is thought that their return may be planed for 2016 to celebrate the 100 years since the battle of the Somme.

The Giants have been a huge boost to Liverpool's economy, it is thought that their visit in 2014 generated close to £50m.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson wants people to take part in a consultation over the future of St Luke’s church in the city centre.

He said the well-known landmark, known as the Bombed Out Church, needs £150,000 of urgent work to secure the building's future following storm damage last winter.

Mr Anderson said he wants to keep St Luke’s in public ownership, but also the site improved and the current arts programme developed "so that future generations can use the site".

The council's planning a public meeting in September.

The Mayor of Liverpool's demanded an apology from Conservative MP Brandon Lewis, who accused the City Council of spending £2m on Beatles memorabilia. Joe Anderson claims the allegation is 'blatantly' untrue and says he wants a personal apology in Parliament.

Mayor Anderson said: “Once again, this Government is making scurrilous allegations about me and about the city of Liverpool which are blatantly untrue. This is appalling behaviour."

An investigation is underway following the weekend sinking of the yellow duckmarine in Liverpool with more than thirty people on board.

The Mayor of Liverpool has told us the fleet should never be allowed back into the water. Ralph Blunsom reports...

The Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has paid tribute to two men from the city killed in a terrorist attack in Algeria.

Paul Morgan, 46, and Garry Barlow, 49, were killed by Islamic militants who stormed the gas plant in Sahara desert.

Mayor Anderson said the thoughts and prayers of the people of Liverpool were within the two families, adding that the city 'stood shoulder to shoulder with them' in their grief.

The Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has written to the chair of the Honours Forfeiture Committee calling for Sir Irvine Patnick to be stripped of his knighthood.

Sir Irvine, who was a Sheffield MP at the time of the HIllsborough disaster, was named as one of the sources of controversial stories in The Sun newspaper in the days after the tragedy.

In his letter Mayor Anderson condemned the former MP for a "vile and appalling smear campaign" which has led to fans being "vilified and stigmatised" to deflect criticism from South Yorkshire Police and other authorities.

Mr Anderson asked for the committee to give "urgent consideration" to the actions of the former MP which, he says, have "brought the honours system into disrepute".

Mr Anderson said: "He disgracefully took a lead in actively briefing the media with despicable lies about the role and behaviour of Liverpool fans that day to deflect criticism of the police and other authorities.

"These lies have tormented the families, survivors and people of Liverpool for 23 years."

Sir Irvine yesterday issued an apology over his actions. He said he was "deeply and sincerely sorry".

Joseph Thompson was shot dead on Ravensthorpe Street in Norris Green in the early hours of Thursday, June 14.

Since then armed police have patrolled the streets in the area to try to reassure people who live there.

It is thought Mr Thompson's murder may have been linked to a gang feud.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson is due to meet police and community leaders in Norris Green today to see how gun crime is being tackled.

He and Merseyside police are also encouraging anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.