Once upon a time there was a Lib Dem councillor called Mike Storey. He spent 10 years watching Liverpool sink into the ground. Now, as council leader, he's pulling it up again with an impressive renewal programme.
Scousers and football are, of course, inseparable. So it's no great shock that when Mike Storey, the leader of Liverpool council, arrives to meet me in the pub – fresh from collecting his CBE at Buckingham Palace – he is keen to talk about the nation's favourite sport. What is surprising is that it's in the same breath as his other passion: the regeneration that's currently putting Liverpool back on the map.

Storey believes successful football teams can raise the profile of an area and attract regeneration, jobs and investment. "The fact that Liverpool has two premiership teams is a good starting point," says Storey, "and if it is handled correctly, then it can create jobs and opportunities."

He has arrived in something of a fluster, after the CBE ceremony ran rather long and made him rush to the interview. Leaning casually against a window and sipping mineral water, it doesn't take long for him to regain his composure. But he won't be drawn on whether he supports Everton or Liverpool. He believes the leader of the council should be seen to be neutral in these matters.

He would rather talk about the recent achievements of Liverpool council. Last week, it became the first local authority in the country to offer its services on a consultancy basis to other councils (HT 1 August, page 10). A two-day regeneration conference, planned for the end of September, is set to boost its image further as well as bring £250,000 into the local economy. The sell-off of council houses to housing associations has also helped to tackle economic deprivation. In total more than £1bn worth of stock modernisation is being undertaken.

Fresh thinking
The future of Liverpool and its regeneration needs have been much higher up the agenda since Storey became leader four years ago. He has brought new thinking into the issue, believing that although the general direction of national government policy on regeneration is right, the sheer number of initiatives, agencies and bodies leaves people struggling with a "spaghetti" of different schemes and confused over what money can be accessed for their area.

"We seem to spend all our time trying to find route maps around these projects," he complains. "How people are meant to understand them, God knows. Do people in Dingle understand how to access Objective One regeneration money, or regional development agency money, or New Deal for Communities money?"

Storey's version of regeneration for Liverpool is about being "people-focused" and producing an "inclusive society". Schemes encourage residents to have a say in how their areas are redeveloped. This approach means communities can become the real advocates for change, Storey says.

But there's still a long way to go, he freely admits. One of the main problems is that the house prices are booming in the prosperous south of the city, whereas in the north, people are still struggling and communities are less balanced – it's not unusual for cheap, terraced properties to have £100,000 townhouses as next-door neighbours.

Storey has been in local government for three decades, including the turbulent 1980s when the city was sharply divided: you either supported the militant-led city council or you didn't. Storey says: "Manchester was speeding ahead while Liverpool was wallowing in self-pity and doing nothing. We almost lost 10 years of opportunities."

In the 1980s, if you were different, people would put you up against the wall and shoot you – and they’d smile when they did it

Hatton's legacy
The militant council leader of the period, Derek Hatton, was a "chancer", says Storey. "I don't think he had any real political philosophy or credence. He wanted to succeed and he picked a time in Liverpool's history where his message of no cuts in jobs or services was something that people in deprived areas wanted to hear.

"But during his time fewer houses were built and Liverpool declined dramatically. Jobs didn't come to the city."

Storey sums up life as a councillor during that period as "threatening". He reflects: "Those members of the workforce who dared to raise their heads above the parapet were chopped down ruthlessly. They were either moved into another job, or they didn't get promotion, or they were completely ostracised.

"If you were different, people would put you up against the wall and shoot you, and they'd smile when they did it."

The changes between then and now are vast, says Storey. The closer link between local government and the private sector is one of the major shifts to have taken place in the council since Storey first entered and he largely approves.

On the other hand, he thinks the mix of elected members is far from ideal. "People serving on most councils are either unemployed, self-employed or retired and because of this, you don't get a cross-section of the community.

"We have to decide. Do we want full-time local politicians or do we want to have a voluntary side?" The underlying problem, he says, is a weakening of civic responsibility.

Storey himself works as a teacher. This keeps him in touch with local people, he says. He's taught in some very deprived areas and has seen children who hit back against the system end up successful and making good lives for themselves. He says: "My job gives me a social responsibility. I always think about the social effects on people from the policy decisions we take."

Mike Storey cbe

Age
53
Family
Married, one daughter
Career
Elected to Liverpool City Council in 1973. Chair of education, 1980-1983. Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, 1991-1998. Council leader since May 1998. Member of the Local Government Association economic regeneration committee since 1996. Founder member of Mersey Partnership and deputy chair of the new Liverpool regeneration company, Liverpool Vision. Head of Plantation primary school in Halewood, Merseyside, since 1991.
Awards
OBE for political services in 1992; CBE for services to regeneration in January 2002.