Exclusive: Joe Anderson undergoes heart op

MAYOR Joe Anderson is recovering at home in Liverpool tonight after undergoing a heart operation in hospital. Friends of the city’s first directly elected mayor said he is making good progress after the pre-planned surgery which took place a few days ago.

It is not known how long Mayor Anderson will be away from his Dale Street office, but he has already started to send twitter and email messages to his Town hall Colleagues.

Procedure

One of them said tonight: “You know what Joe is like. It is not a case of how long he should be off work, but rather how long he is prepared to stay away.”

Several years ago Mayor Anderson, when he was leader of the city council underwent a procedure at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital at Broadgreen to correct a heart rhythm problem.

Since he was elected Mayor of Liverpool he has worked long hours, and recently, following the sudden resignation of his deputy Cllr Paul Brant, took personal control of the council budget.

He missed last Friday’s council cabinet meeting and the only mention made of his absence was the recording of his "apologies".

Cllr Roz Gladden, who took over Cllr Brant’s job as Deputy Mayor just a few weeks ago,  chaired the cabinet meeting.

It is understood Mayor Anderson does not wish to make a big fuss about his heart op and wants time to recover so he can return to his desk as quickly as possible.

Workload

A few days ago when I interviewed Mayor Anderson he made cryptic references to his health, indicating it was elective rather than emergency surgery. 

Another of Mayor Anderson’s colleagues last night told Liverpool Confidential: “We are aware of the situation and we all wish Joe a speedy recovery. There is no doubt he will have to lighten his workload for a while, but he has many able people in the cabinet to help him.”

The Mayor’s health issue comes as his new Hope Fund Charity gets under way, in which he has teamed up with Tesco to raise money for Liverpool’s increasingly busy food banks.

When I spoke to the Mayor just days ago he was obviously passionate about the need for Liverpool people to help those desperately in need, particularly as Christmas approaches.

It’s clear to me any curtailment of his council work, let alone any absence during his recovery stage will frustrate the mayor as he faces a cruel cut in council spending because of government reductions in the money it has granted to the city.