Mayor of Wirral

Civic Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral

Incumbent
Brian Kenny

since 15 May 2025

Appointer| Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Term length| 1 year
Inaugural holder| Doris Sisson
Formation| 1974
Website| Mayor of Wirral

The Mayor of Wirral (or Civic Mayor of Wirral) is a ceremonial post elected annually, along with a deputy, by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council.[1]

The role of the mayor includes chairing council meetings, representing the Borough at civic functions, supporting local charities and conferring Honorary Freemen and Aldermen.

The incumbent mayor is Brian Kenny.[2]

## Controversies

[edit]

On 2 June 2014, 5 councillors (4 Conservative and 1 Green) voted against former leader of the council Steve Foulkes's nomination for mayor with a further 10 (all Conservative) abstaining.[3] Leader of the Council Phil Davies said afterwards “It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, it was just grandstanding by the Tories.” Green councillor Pat Clearly wrote in his blog “On Monday [2 June], Wirral elects its new Mayor. Normally, a routine vote where a long standing councillor is elected with cross party support…but, this year is different as the Mayor elect is Steve Foulkes who was Council Leader when Wirral became very publicly associated with incompetence, bullying, gagging clauses, resignations and bad financial management”.

## List of mayors of Wirral

[edit]

### 20th century

[edit]

No.  | Year | Name  | Party

|
|
|

1  | 1974  | Doris Sisson  |  | Conservative
2  | 1975  | Ken Fox  |  | Labour
3  | 1976  | John Evans  |  | Liberal
4  | 1977  | Tim Richmond  |  | Conservative
5  | 1978  | Jack Redhead  |  | Conservative
6  | 1979  | Bill Wells  |  | Labour
7  | 1980  | Frank Theaker  |  | Conservative
8  | 1981  | Dorothy Goodfellow  |  | Conservative
9  | 1982  | Bill Lungley  |  | Labour
10  | 1983  | Harry Deverill  |  | Conservative
11  | 1984  | Michael Moore  |  | Conservative
12  | 1985  | Gordon Lindsay  |  | Alliance
13  | 1986  | David Williams  |  | Conservative
14  | 1987  | Arthur Smith  |  | Labour
15  | 1988  | Reg Cumpstey  |  | Conservative
16  | 1989  | Mike Cooke  |  | SLD
17  | 1990  | Jim Edwards  |  | Independent Labour
18  | 1991  | Gordon Paterson  |  | Labour
19  | 1992  | Frank Jones  |  | Conservative
20  | 1993  | Peter Corcoran  |  | Labour
21  | 1994  | Sid Dunn  |  | Conservative
22  | 1995  | Walter Smith  |  | Labour
23  | 1996  | Myrra Lea  |  | Conservative
24  | 1997  | Barney Gilfoyle  |  | Labour
25  | 1998  | Margaret Green  |  | Labour
26  | 1999  | Hugh Lloyd  |  | Labour

### 21st century

[edit]

No.  | Year | Name  | Party

|
|
|

27  | 2000  | Kate Wood  |  | Conservative
28  | 2001  | John Cocker  |  | Labour
29  | 2002  | Pat Williams  |  | Liberal Democrats
30  | 2003  | Bill Nock  |  | Labour
31  | 2004  | Hilary Jones  |  | Conservative
| Independent
| UKIP
32  | 2005  | Chris Meaden  |  | Labour
33  | 2006  | Peter Johnson  |  | Conservative
34  | 2007  | Phil Gilchrist  |  | Liberal Democrats
35  | 2008  | Adrian Jones  |  | Labour
36  | 2009  | Andrew Hodson  |  | Conservative
37  | 2010  | Alan Jennings  |  | Liberal Democrats
38  | 2011  | Moira McLaughlin  |  | Labour
39  | 2012  | Gerry Ellis  |  | Conservative
40  | 2013  | Dave Mitchell  |  | Liberal Democrats
41  | 2014  | Steve Foulkes  |  | Labour
42  | 2015  | Les Rowlands  |  | Conservative
43  | 2016  | Pat Hackett |  | Labour
44  | 2017  | Ann McLachlan  |  | Labour
45  | 2018  | Geoffrey Watt  |  | Conservative
46  | 2019  | Tony Smith  |  | Labour
47  | 2021  | George Davies  |  | Labour
48  | 2022  | Jeff Green |  | Conservative
49  | 2023  | Jerry Williams  |  | Labour
50  | 2024  | Cherry Povall  |  | Conservative
51  | 2025  | Brian Kenny  |  | Labour

* Phil Gilchrist, 34th Mayor of Wirral

* Steve Foulkes, 41st Mayor of Wirral

* Les Rowlands, 42nd Mayor of Wirral

* Pat Hackett, 43rd Mayor of Wirral

* Geoffrey Watt, 45th Mayor of Wirral

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Mayor of Wirral". Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
2. ^ "Plans for new Wirral attraction revealed as new Mayor elected". Birkenhead News. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
3. ^ Murphy, Liam. "Steve Foulkes appointed Mayor of Wirral in New Brighton ceremony". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 4 October 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Lists of civic mayors (excluding lord mayors) in the United Kingdom

England|

| Mayors|

* Abingdon-on-Thames
* Barnsley
* Barnstaple
* Bath
* Bedford
* Bolton
* Bournemouth
* Bristol (until 1899)
* Cambridge
* Canterbury (until 1988)
* Carlisle
* Chelsea
* Chester (until 1992)
* Chesterfield
* Colchester
* Coventry (until 1954)
* Dartmouth
* Derby
* Devizes
* Doncaster
* Dorchester
* Dover
* Dudley
* Exeter (until 2002)
* Faversham
* Finsbury
* Gloucester
* Greenwich
* Grimsby
* Guildford
* Havering
* Hereford
* High Wycombe
* Horwich
* Kingston upon Hull (until 1913)
* Leeds (until 1897)
* Leicester
* Lincoln
* Medway
* Merton
* Newcastle-upon-Tyne (until 1906)
* Newham
* Northampton
* Norwich (until 1910)
* Nottingham (until 1928)
* Oxford (until 1962)
* Paddington
* Penzance
* Plymouth (until 1935)
* Poole
* Portsmouth (until 1927)
* Preston
* Reading
* Salford (until 2012)
* Salisbury
* Shaftesbury
* Sheffield (until 1896)
* Shrewsbury
* Slough
* South Molton
* Stafford
* Sunderland
* Tiverton
* Totnes
* Tower Hamlets
* Wells
* Wigan
* Winchelsea
* Winchester
* Wirral
* Woking
* Wolverhampton
* Worcester

|

Wales|

| Mayors|

* Monmouth

|

Scotland|

| Provosts|

* Elgin
* Inverness
* Peterhead

|

Northern Ireland|

| Mayors|

* Castlereagh
* Causeway Coast
* Coleraine (to 2015)
* Craigavon
* Derry City and Strabane
* Larne
* Lisburn
* Lisburn and Castlereagh
* Newry
* Newtownabbey
* North Down

|

Ireland (pre-1922)|

| Mayors|

* Galway
* Waterford

|

*[Year]: Year Start
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template