“A fucking feudal baron”: The long legacy of Liverpool’s most feared NHS boss

Dear readers — we’re opening today’s newsletter with some fantastic news from our colleagues down in London. 

You probably know that The Post has been engaged in its own legal proceedings, regarding a story we published at the beginning of 2025. You likely don’t know that for the past six months, our sister publication The Londoner has been fighting a £250,000 defamation case: brought by an Italian businessman called Claudio Di Giovanni, after publishing a piece examining his controversial property scheme. 

Di Giovanni engaged in a sustained campaign of legal intimidation against our colleagues in London, telling one writer that he might end up in jail. At another point, he threatened them with “criminal proceedings” for harassment and malicious communications, “a custodial sentence in the event of contempt of court or criminal conviction”, potential asset freezes and personal accountability for legal costs. 

Last week, though, a judge decisively ruled against Di Giovanni, throwing out his lawsuit and calling it “plainly an abuse of process”. He will now be responsible for paying The Londoner nearly £40,000 to cover the cost of their legal fees.

It’s a huge win for our colleagues over in London, and for our parent company Mill Media. It shows the value of standing up for journalism rather than caving to legal threats and demands to take down our stories. We hope the case sends a message that we will always go to court to defend our reporting and anyone who writes for us, whether they are staff or freelance contributors. 

Anyway! Good news aside, let’s get on with today’s story, which digs into the long legacy of one of Merseyside’s most controversial bosses: Don Wilson, former chair of the Mersey Regional Health Authority. Those who knew him describe him as a man “feared and admired in equal measure”, and he is why Liverpool has five separate organisations delivering adult hospital care — unlike anywhere else in the country. 

Your Post briefing

Reform formally takes control of St Helens council: After they won 34 seats in the local elections two weeks ago, the Nigel Farage-led party officially takes the reins of St Helens council today. The stunning set of results, that left previous leaders Labour with just two council seats, comes less than 18 months after Reform won their very first seat on Merseyside, when Victor Floyd became the councillor for St Helens’ Blackbrook ward. 

A new mayor for Sefton: Jennifer Corcoran, the councillor for Great Crosby, has succeeded June Burns, with Netherton North councillor Carla Thomas becoming deputy mayor. Both Corcoran and Thomas represent the Labour Party. Burns had served as mayor for three years, but will now retire having lost her seat in the recent elections. Marion Atkinson, leader of Sefton council, praised Burns for her service, saying she “played a crucial role providing support following the tragic events in Southport,” and that she expected Mayor Corcoran to approach the role with “dedication, integrity, and a strong commitment to our communities.” 

And the first ever inclusive sport and culture festival is coming to Liverpool. The event will bring together elite Paralympians and an arts and culture programme led by neurodivergent, deaf and disabled artists, and will be hosted at the at the M&S Bank Arena and Exhibition Centre, Salthouse Dock, Albert Dock and the Pier Head from the 2nd to 8th May. Organisers said the festival “will transform the city into a vibrant hub of energy, creativity and elite performance”. 

The long legacy of Liverpool’s most feared NHS boss

“A fucking feudal baron”. That might not be how you expect an NHS boss to be referred to by his former colleagues — a group of retired and veteran health officials, gathered in a drab lecture hall at the University of Liverpool for a research project on the history of the local NHS. But then again, Sir Donald Wilson wasn’t your usual boss. 

The officials had been asked to discuss their memories of Merseyside’s health services under the Conservative governments of the 1980s and early 1990s, which meant one figure loomed large in the room — despite his absence.

“There’s a risk this just becomes the Don Wilson show, so we need to avoid that,” the convenor warned. This seemed to fall on deaf ears, however, and the discussion inevitably became dominated by Sir Donald — the true-blue Tory and “macho” manager who was “feared and admired in equal measure” during his chairmanship of the former Mersey Regional Health Authority. Though he died in 2001, his legacy remains etched into the structure of Liverpool’s NHS services.

One of Thatcher’s most trusted lieutenants

If you’ve ever wondered why Liverpool has five separate organisations delivering adult hospital care — unlike anywhere else in the country — Sir Donald is the answer.