The plans are revealed in a letter from Mayor Joe Anderson to Culture Secretary John Whittingdale.
Mayor Anderson – who is seeking re-election in next month’s local elections – said the move could ‘be a catalyst for regeneration’ across the city region if successful.
It is the second major announcement this week by the city’s Mayor, coming just days after he announced plans to build 10,000 new ‘rent to buy’ homes across Liverpool to help young families get on the housing ladder.
He said: “It’s at an early stage, but I’ve written to the government staking Liverpool’s intention to consider hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
“I am ambitious for the future of our city and I think we have an enormous amount to offer including a track record of delivering big-ticket events and a brilliant sporting heritage.
“But we’re also a city with a window on the world and I think multi-national, multi-ethnic Liverpool reflects the values of co-operation and solidarity that now lie at the heart of the games.”
Most Read
The Mayor pointed to the success of the Capital of Culture year in 2008 and the recent Three Queens spectacular as evidence of Liverpool’s ability to host major events.
The Commonwealth Games were last held in Glasgow in 2014 and the next games, in 2018, will be at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
The next games are due to be held in the South African city of Durban in 2022.
Last year, Liverpool council bosses said they’d decided against submitting a bid for the city to host the Commonwealth Games.
But at the time, Joe Anderson told the ECHO he thought Liverpool had the capability to host the Commonwealth Games if the Government were to finance it.
According to the Scottish Government, they contributed 80 per cent to the public cost of the 2014 Games, while Glasgow city council contributed 20 per cent of the reported £575m bill.
In his letter to the Culture Secretary, Mayor Anderson is now asking for a meeting to pursue Liverpool’s bid for the 2026 event, the next undesignated games.
Don’t miss
He said: “Both Manchester and Edinburgh used the Commonwealth Games to deliver a regeneration boost for deprived parts of their cities, and I think the same could be possible for parts of our city like north Liverpool.
“By the time of the 2026 games, it will have been quarter of a century since an English city hosted the games, so it feels like the time is right for us to bid.”
In his letter Mayor Anderson says that ‘the potential benefits of hosting the Games would disperse widely around the Liverpool city-region as well as the wider northwest of England.’
He added: “Liverpool could carry out an assessment of the assets we have in place, plus the potential sites, finance and key infrastructure we would need to successfully host the event in order to start conversations with Government. Those conversations would include the cost of the games and how much Government would contribute.
“There are never any guarantees with these bids, but we will be pushing hard to make our case and I am seeking a meeting with the relevant government ministers to begin the process.”