Sir Richard Charles Leese

CBE 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 ...

(born 21 April 1951) is a British politician who served as Leader of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

from 1996 to 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he was Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Richard Charles Leese was born on 21 April 1951 in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at The Brunts School and received an undergraduate degree in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. He attained an Advanced Certificate in Youth and Community Work at Manchester University.

Career

Initially, Leese worked as a teacher of mathematics at Sidney Stringer School in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and as an exchange teacher at Washington Junior High School in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

(USA) before moving to Manchester to take up a post as a youth worker. Leese has been employed variously in youth work, community work, and education research 1979–1988. Leese was elected to the Manchester City Council in 1984 and was its deputy leader from 1990 until 1996, having previously chaired the Education Committee (1986–1990) and Finance Committee (1990–1995). From 1984 until 4 January 2022, he was a Labour

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

in the

Crumpsall Crumpsall is an outer suburb and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, bordered by Cheetham Hill, Blackley, Harpurhey, Broughton, Greater Manchester, Broughton ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2006 List after overseeing the 10-year regeneration of the city after the IRA bomb of 1996. He was awarded a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for "services to local government". Leese was one of the main advocates of Congestion Charging in Greater Manchester, as part of a bid to the Government's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) for a £2.7 billion package of transport funding for

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. Congestion charging was ultimately rejected by the local population in a referendum. On 6 May 2017, Leese was appointed Deputy Mayor for Business and Economy by

Mayor of Greater Manchester The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the G ...

, and former Health Secretary,

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...

. In October 2021, Leese was announced as the new Chair-designate of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Greater Manchester. He has been chair of the North West Regional Leaders Board (4NW). In September 2021 during an interview with the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'', Leese announced he would be stepping down as leader of Manchester City Council in December 2021 and would not be standing in the 2022 local elections. He stepped down as leader of the council on 1 December 2021 and resigned from the council on 4 January 2022, having spent 38 years as a councillor.

Personal life

Leese was in a relationship with Michal Evans from 1982 to 2000, and has been with Joanne Green since 2003. On 14 April 2010, the BBC reported that Leese had stood down temporarily from his post as leader of Manchester City Council after having been arrested on suspicion of the

common assault Common assault is an offence in English law. It is committed by a person who causes another person to apprehend the immediate use of unlawful violence by the defendant. In England and Wales, the penalty and mode of trial for this offence is pro ...

of his 16-year-old stepdaughter. He was released after accepting a police caution and admitting striking his stepdaughter across the face.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leese, Richard 1951 births 20th-century English politicians 21st-century English politicians Alumni of the University of Warwick Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Councillors in Manchester Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) councillors Leaders of local authorities of England Living people People from Mansfield Members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority