One of local government's most senior Liberal Democrats has written to deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, asking him to ignore last week's ‘shenanigans' over a directly-elected mayor for Liverpool.

Cllr Richard Kemp, former head of the Local Government Association's Liberal Democrat group, approached Mr Clegg after Liverpool's Labour leader, Cllr Joe Anderson, announced local councillors would vote on 7 February on shifting to a directly-elected mayoral system, without holding a public referendum on the issue. Speaking to the local press in Liverpool, Cllr Anderson said councillors would vote on the issue next week – but only if the Government agreed to give the local authority additional powers and resources.