In the previous months that I have interviewed people for this Your Business Ezine Liverpool publication, I have been privileged to speak to some of the great leaders from both the political and business world.
Before each interview I have thought that I knew the individuals I was speaking to, yet each time I have been both amazed and inspired by their stories and their journey through life. I have known Councillor Steve Rotheram for a number of years and I have to say I am very much looking forward to hearing his story, what has driven him to achieve all of the things he has achieved and what he feels the future has in store for him.
Steve was born in 1961 after his family were moved from Anfield to the then Kirkby ‘New Town’ and was the 5th of 8 children. His father, a fork lift truck driver, was elected as a Town Councillor in Kirkby in the 1970’s and Steve helped in his election campaign aged just 12. Steve wasn’t particularly interested in school, he simply wanted to become a bricklayer and upon leaving school he did an apprenticeship which he completed in 1980.
Aged just 22 Steve started his own construction company which he ran for 7 years, before moved into training, teaching construction skills. After this he felt as though he needed a change of direction, choosing first to go into further education and then on to Higher education at John Moores University, before starting a Masters Degree in Contemporary Urban Renaissance.
After university he worked for the Learning Skills Council as a senior business manager and took voluntary redundancy in 2005 instead of relocating to Manchester, preferring to stay in the Liverpool area to concentrate on his political career. Being a Labour Councillor, Steve was elected to the position of Deputy Lord Mayor in 2007 and then Lord Mayor in 2008, the Capital of Culture year.
Just 2 days into his appointment as Lord Mayor Steve was visited by Her Majesty The Queen during her official visit to the City. It was Steve’s job to chaperone her for the day as she attended a number of Civic engagements and met many of the people of Liverpool. He said she really appeared to enjoy herself and much to his surprise Steve himself got on very well with her.
During his period as Lord Mayor, Steve in his role as Ambassador for the City met many really interesting and influential people. Among these were the President of Ireland, The Reverend Jessie Jackson, Gordon Brown with the full British Cabinet and many more, although he did say he would have liked to have met Barack Obama but unfortunately never got the opportunity.
Steve is very passionate about Liverpool and also the Labour Party. I wanted to know if he had to choose between making a decision that best suited the Labour Party or Liverpool, which would he choose. Steve said, "If you make the right decision for the people, then you get the support of the party anyway”, so he would choose the City every time.
He added: “Lots of people have pre conceived ideas about what Liverpool is like, not just the place, but the people as well.
"They are always amazed when they visit for the first time just how warm and friendly we are and how outstanding our architecture is. Liverpool has more grade 1 and 2 listed buildings than any other city in the UK outside of London”.
Leading on from this, I asked Steve if he believed the perception of the city was changing.
He replied: “Absolutely, we have suffered in the past from a reputation for bad politics and car crime, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"We actually have less car crime than some of the greener suburbs of the south and politics in the City has matured over recent years”.
Steve says that we never fully exploited the success of our Capital of Culture year in 2008, although visitor numbers to the city were maintained in 2009, which was Liverpool’s year of the environment and now coming in to 2010, the year of Health and Wellbeing, he feels confident that these levels will again be maintained. This is due in no small measure to the phenomenal success of Liverpool 1.
Steve believes the future is looking very bright for Liverpool. The World Expo in Shanghai is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the city to the rest of the world. There are amazing green technology investment opportunities and people are really beginning to invest in the city, even Bill Gates who gave £150 million to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine for bio medical research.
Well Steve it has been a pleasure. You truly are a remarkable person. Your pride in this great city is inspiring and I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing you the very best in your career, I look forward to following it with interest.
www.liverpool.gov.uk
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