Judith Vivienne Blake, Baroness Blake of Leeds (born 23 July 1953, née Parsons) is a British Labour politician serving as 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 ...

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 ...

since 2021. She serves as a

Baroness-in-Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(Government Whip) in the

. Blake served as the leader of

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

from 2015 to 2021, being the first woman to hold the position.

Personal life

Blake was born on 23 July 1953 into a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

family in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Both her parents were doctors. She attended

Leeds Girls High School Leeds Girls' High School (LGHS) was an independent, selective, fee-paying school for girls aged 3–18 founded in 1876 in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It merged with Leeds Grammar School in 2008 to form The Grammar School at L ...

until 1971 and then studied History at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

. After university, she began her career in education and social policy, living in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and then

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the 1980s. During her time living in Birmingham, she taught the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

to refugees. In 1992, she returned to live in Otley.https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/the-next-best-thing-1-2045707 Blake has four children. Her youngest child,

Olivia Blake Olivia Frances Blake-Dagnall (born 10 March 1990) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam since 2019. Early life and education Olivia Blake was born on 10 March 1990 in Northallerton, N ...

, was elected as the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Political career

Blake was elected as an Otley town councillor, and, except for a two-year gap after losing her seat in

Weetwood Weetwood is an area between Headingley and Meanwood in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded on the north by the A6120 (Outer Ring Road), on the west by the A660 (Otley Road), on the east by Meanwood Beck and to the sout ...

at the 2000 city council election, has been an elected member of

since 1996. She contested the

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Katie White, of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created in 1950, as Leeds North-We ...

constituency in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

national elections as the Labour Party's

prospective parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...

. In 2005 she came second behind

Greg Mulholland Gregory Thomas Mulholland (born 31 August 1970) is a British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP for Leeds North West (UK Parliament constituency), Leeds North West. He was f ...

of the Liberal Democrats; in 2010, she fell to third behind Julia Mulligan of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and re-elected MP Mulholland. Following her selection as deputy leader of the Leeds Labour group in 2003, once the party regained control of Leeds in 2010, Blake served as the Deputy Leader of the Council for five years to 2015. She was the Executive Cabinet Member for Children & Families during this period, overseeing the city's Children's Services'

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

rating change from "inadequate" to "good overall". She has been involved in a number of national legal campaigns, worked with education authorities in Yorkshire to raise school standards in the area, and worked on crises and issues with student grades and school placements throughout her career. She voted for

Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Cooper has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliament (MP) for Po ...

in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election and supported

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

in the 2020 leadership election.

Leader of Leeds City Council

After then-leader Keith Wakefield stepped down, Blake was elected as the first woman leader of Leeds City Council in May 2015. She chaired the Council's Executive Board, having also served on the boards for NHS Leeds and the West Yorkshire Police Authority. In April 2019, Blake was appointed to the board of

Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The compa ...

. During her time as leader she was a key proponent of a public art project to celebrate the women of Leeds, which culminated in the unveiling of ''

Ribbons A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

'' by

Pippa Hale Pippa Hale is a contemporary British artist, founder of the Northern Art Prize and co-founder of Leeds contemporary art gallery The Tetley. Early life Hale studied for a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Warwickshire College of Furt ...

in 2024.. In December 2015, she expressed the frustration of city residents in feeling that

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, then the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

, was giving greater attention to more affluent counties in

southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

during a period of severe flooding. She was awarded a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded a ...

House of Lords

In December 2020, it was announced Blake would be conferred a

Life Peerage 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 ...

after a

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

by Labour Party Leader

. In February 2021, she was created Baroness Blake of Leeds, of Gledhow in the City of Leeds. Blake joined the opposition front bench in May 2021, as a Shadow Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government and an

Opposition Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

. In December 2021 she became Shadow Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and International Trade, and in February 2023 she became Shadow Spokesperson for Energy and Net Zero and Shadow Spokesperson for Business and Trade. On 11 July 2024, she became a Baroness-In-Waiting (Government Whip) in the

Electoral history

References

External links

Judith Blake
page at Leeds City Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Judith 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of Kent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Councillors in Leeds Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Leaders of local authorities of England Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Labour Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting People educated at Leeds Girls' High School Women councillors in England