Sir Richard Charles Leese, CBE (born 1951, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire),[1] is a politician in the City of Manchester in the United Kingdom. He has been the leader of Manchester City Council since 1996.
Leese was born and brought up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at The Brunts School situated in north east of the town.[2]
After graduating from the University of Warwick he worked as a teacher in Coventry and as an exchange teacher in the 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). As of 2011 he is a Labour councillor in the Crumpsall ward.[3]
He was knighted 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 for "services to local government".[4]
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. Congestion charging was ultimately rejected by the local population in a referendum, prompting a general questioning of his judgement and legitimacy.[5][6][7]
He is current chair of the North West Regional Leaders Board (4NW).
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 of his 16-year-old stepdaughter. He was released after accepting a police caution.[8]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Graham Stringer |
Leader of Manchester City Council 1996–present |
Incumbent |