Richard Leese
| Sir Richard Leese CBE |
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Richard Leese talking at the University of Salford in 2012.
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| Leader of Manchester City Council | |
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Assumed office 20 May 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Graham Stringer |
| Member of Manchester City Council for Crumpsall | |
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Assumed office 3 May 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Frederick Lever |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Charles Leese 21 April 1951 Mansfield, Nottinghamshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Alma mater | University of Warwick |
| Occupation | Labour councillor |
| Awards |
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Sir Richard Charles Leese, CBE (born 21 April 1951) is a politician in Manchester, England. He has been the leader of Manchester City Council since 1996 and a member of the Labour Party since 1984.
Leese was born and brought up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at The Brunts School and went on to the University of Warwick, graduating with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics.
Initially, Leese worked as a teacher of mathematics at Sidney Stringer School in Coventry and as an exchange teacher at Washington Junior High School in Duluth, Minnesota, 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.
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".
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.
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