Michael John Storey, Baron Storey, (born 25 May 1949) is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

politician. He is currently the party's spokesperson on education, families and young people in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He was City Councillor for the Liverpool ward of

Wavertree Wavertree is a district and suburb of Liverpool, in the county of Merseyside, England. It is a Ward (country subdivision), ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 14,772. Located to ...

from 2004 to 2011 and Leader of

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

from 1998 to 2005. He was first elected to the Council in 1973, and became the youngest Chair of Education in the history of Liverpool from 1980 to 1983, during which time he was also Deputy Leader of the Council under Sir Trevor Jones.

Leader of the Council

In 1998 the Liberal Democrats gained control of Liverpool City Council and Storey became Council Leader. He aimed to set about rebuilding the city's reputation, cutting the council tax, improving services and attracting jobs and investment, while reducing the number of council employees by 5,000. He was a central part of Liverpool's successful bid to become

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

in 2008 and was widely credited with transforming the city and Council's reputation by cutting council tax (until then the highest in the country), improving council services (previously the worst in England) and attracting jobs and investment. He resigned as Council Leader on 25 November 2005 after being found to have breached the members' code of conduct, following the disclosure of correspondence with former Council media chief, Matt Finnegan, which appeared to show the two men seeking to pressure the departure of then Chief Executive, Sir David Henshaw. In 2009 he was present, as Lord Mayor, at a ceremony organised by

Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohisto ...

, allegedly a

Neo-Confederate Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South (formed in 1994), the Sons of Confederate Veterans (formed 1896 ...

organisation at Toxteth Park Cemetery rededicating the grave of Irvine Bulloch He lost his seat to 18-year-old Jake Morrison in 2011.

Lord Mayor

Storey served as

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The Lord Mayor of Liverpool is a largely ceremonial civic office of Liverpool City Council. The Lord Mayor is the ‘first citizen’ of Liverpool representing the city and acting as a focal point of community events and is also the Chair (off ...

for the Council session 2009–2010. He was preceded by Cllr

Steve Rotheram Steven Philip Rotheram (born 4 November 1961) is a British politician serving as Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region since 2017. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he was Member of Parliame ...

and succeeded by Cllr Hazel Williams.

House of Lords

On 19 November 2010, it was announced that Storey would be created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and will sit as a Liberal Democrat in the

. He was created Baron Storey, of Childwall in the City of Liverpool on 2 February 2011. Storey is currently the Liberal Democrat education spokesman in the House of Lords and co-chair of the party parliamentary education, families and young people committee. He was a party whip between 2010 and 2014 and a member of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Committee in 2012–13. He speaks on education, regeneration and the arts. Storey is also a member of the Regional Growth Fund independent advisory panel and a trustee of Mersyside think-tank ExUrbe.

Awards

Storey was appointed an OBE for political services in 1994 and a CBE for services to regeneration in 2002. He is a retired primary school teacher and long-serving headteacher of Plantation Primary School,

Halewood Halewood is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England, near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically part of Lanca ...

References

External links

Liverpool City CouncilLiverpool Liberal DemocratsPlantation Primary School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, Mike 1949 births Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors in Liverpool Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Liverpool Hope University Schoolteachers from Merseyside Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Mayors of Liverpool Leaders of local authorities of England Politicians from Childwall Life peers created by Elizabeth II Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire