WHO MADE THE DECISION AGAINST HAVING A LIBRARY IN SOUTHPORT TOWN CENTRE ?

.We've been asked this question by a number of people. At the Cabinet meeting, the Liberal Democrats voted to provide a temporary library in Southport's Market. They were outvoted 6 votes to 4.

Here are the six councillors who voted against having a temporary town centre library:

Cllr Brenda Porter (Conservative, Ainsdale)
Cllr Barry Griffiths (Conservative, Formby)
Cllr Paula Parry (Conservative, Crosby)
Cllr Peter Dowd (Labour, Bootle)
Cllr Ian Maher (Labour, Bootle)
Cllr Jon Fairclogh (Labour, Bootle)

Cllr Parry is the Leader of the Conservative group on Sefton council and Cllr Porter is the Deputy leader. Cllr Peter Dowd is the Leader of the Labour group and Cllr Maher is his Deputy.

There are 66 councillors on Sefton (three for each of the 22 ward voting areas) Once elected they are on for 4 years. Only a third (22 councillor candidates) are up before the voters when local yearly elections are held.

Current number of councillors for each party on Sefton:
Liberal Democrat 28
Labour 21
Conservative 17

No party has had majority control for over 20 years. Sefton, like many other councils throughout the country, is a balanced or "shared power" council. Nobody can bulldoze decisions through because of the size of their party. It is not unusual for Tory and Labour to vote together on issues.