The only female leader in the Liverpool City Region came off social media last year due to the amount of abuse she was receiving.

Cllr Janette Williamson, the Labour leader of Wirral Council, said she has had abusive voicemails, emails and social media messages since taking on the role last September.

In her first few weeks as leader, the Liverpool City Region became the first part of England to be put under tough Tier 3 restrictions.

This seemed to inspire angry keyboard warriors to attack Cllr Williamson even more.

Referring to Pat Hackett, the previous leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Williamson said: "When I was Pat's deputy working alongside him, I wasn't aware of him receiving abuse because he is a man, it's a completely different ball game for me.

"[The abuse] is particularly vitriolic when something happens on the council which not everyone likes.

"For two weeks after I became the leader I had to stop logging on to social media, it became a bit too much."

But Cllr Williamson said people who send such messages will not keep her down, she added: "When you try to demean individuals you always end up demeaning yourself.

"To understand the power of female leaders you only have to look across to America [where Kamala Harris recently became the first female Vice President]."

The Labour leader expanded on what her past will enable her to bring to the role.

Cllr Williamson said: "We shouldn't base our view of people on their gender, but women's experiences are unique.

"I aim to represent all residents, but there is no denying I am able to bring a woman's voice to politics.

"Particularly around COVID and austerity, whether it be the fact that women are more likely to be carers or impacted by austerity as part-time and lower paid workers.

"We are still striving for gender equality in pay and I will be a unique voice for that in the Liverpool City Region."

The Liscard councillor is the first female leader of Wirral Council since 1991 and only the second ever.

But Cllr Williamson feels she has been well supported by both leaders of other parties on the council and fellow Labour leaders in the City Region.

She added that young girls should not be put off from going into politics due to the abuse leaders such as herself have received.

The Labour leader said: "Just remember that the world would not have achieved the progress it has today if it was not for all the fabulous women in politics.

"We are all here to support you."

Moving on to the massive financial challenges Wirral Council faces, Cllr Williamson rejected criticism from Conservative councillors that the pandemic and austerity are not entirely to blame for the authority's £16.5m budget shortfall.

On several committees discussing hugely controversial cuts, such as closing the Williamson Art Gallery and Europa Pools, Tory members have claimed that spending by the council on schemes such as the dumped Hoylake Golf Resort project are responsible for the authority's current plight.

Cllr Williamson said: "We've lost nearly £250m in funding since 2010 and the bulk of the money we get to spend is what we bring in and we spend it on services we are legally obliged to deliver such as adult's and children's social care.

"It's very challenging to do that with less and less funding."

Given the cuts in the council's funding and the fact the authority is not being fully reimbursed for its COVID losses, the Labour leader thought it was "disingenuous" for Conservatives to blame the council for the situation it finds itself in.

Wirral Council has to deal with the first 5% of lost income due to the pandemic itself, the council is then compensated for 75p out of every 95p of lost income after that.

Cllr Williamson continued: "So many councils up and down the country of every political colour are facing these challenges.