List of mayors of Leeds

The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council.

Lord Mayor of Leeds
Coat of arms of Leeds City Council
Incumbent
Cllr Bob Gettings
since 2022
StyleThe Right Worshipful
StatusLord Mayor
Member ofLeeds City Council
Term lengthOne municipal year
PrecursorMayor of Leeds (1661–1897)
Formation12 July 1897
WebsiteOfficial website

By charter from King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the governing body of the borough of Leeds was an alderman, the first holder being Sir John Savile.[1] A second charter, in 1661 from King Charles II, granted the title Mayor to Thomas Danby,[1] after whom Thomas Danby College was named. In 1893 the County Borough of Leeds was granted city status, and in 1897 Queen Victoria conferred the title of Lord Mayor on James Kitson.

The first woman to have the post was Jessie Beatrice Kitson in 1942: she was elected following the death of Arthur Clarke shortly after his election.[2][3]

In 2019, the council elected Leeds' first ever black Lord Mayor, Eileen Taylor.[4] After serving as a Labour member of council since 2008, she was elected unanimously by fellow councillors at the authority's annual general meeting. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor's term was extended for another municipal year until May 2021, the first time a Lord Mayor has served for two municipal years since George Brett's original term of office (1947–48) was extended for a municipal year until 1949. Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, his term was extended until the first meeting held after the May 1949 council election.[5][6]

Notable former Mayors include Benjamin Gott (1799), Sir George Goodman (1836), several of the Lupton family, Henry Rowland Marsden (1873) and Alf Cooke of the famous printworks (1890).

List of Lord Mayors

Source:[7]

Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale, first Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1896–97[8]
Robert Armitage, Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1904–1905.
William Middlebrook, Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1910–1911.
Edward Brotherton, 1st Baron Brotherton, Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1913–1914
Sir Charles Lupton, Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1915–1916
Sir Edwin Airey, Lord Mayor of Leeds, 1923–1924
Municipal year Lord Mayor (party nomination - electoral ward if councillor)
1897-1898 Sir James Kitson, MP for Colne Valley, 1892 (Lib)
1898-1899 Thomas Walter Harding (LUP)
1899-1900 John Gordon (Con)
1900-1901 Frederick W. Lawson (?)
1901-1902 Ambrose Edmund Butler (?)
1902-1903 Sir John Ward[9] (?)
1903-1904 Arthur Currer Briggs (?)
1904-1905 Robert Armitage, MP for Leeds Central, 1906 (Lib)
1905-1906 Edwin Woodhouse (?)
1906-1907 Joseph Hepworth (?)
1907-1908 Wilfred Lawrence Hepton (?)
1908-1909 Frederick J Kitson (Lib)
1909-1910 William Penrose Green (Con)
1910-1911 William Middlebrook, MP for Leeds South, 1908 (Lib)
1911-1912 William Nicholson (?)
1912-1913 Albert Wellesley Bain (?)
1913-1914 Edward Brotherton, 1st Baron Brotherton (Con)
1914-1915 James Edward Bedford (?)
1915-1916 Sir Charles Lupton (Con)
1916-1917 Edmund George Arnold (Lib nominated)
1917-1918 Frank Gott (?)
1918-1919 Joseph Henry
1919-1920 Thomas Beveridge Duncan (?)
1920-1921 Albert Braithwaite (Con)
1921-1922 Willie Hodgson (?)
1922-1923 Frank Fountain (?)
1923-1924 Sir Edwin Airey (Con)
1924-1925 Charles Granville Gibson (?)
1925-1926 John Arnott (Lab)
1926-1927 Hugh Lupton (Con)
1927-1928 George Ratcliffe (Lib)
1928-1929 David Blythe Foster (Lab)
1929-1930 Nathaniel George Morrison (?)
1930-1931 Arthur Hawkyard (?)
1931-1932 Fred Simpson, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, 1935 (Lab)
1932-1933 Robert Holliday Blackburn (Con)
1933-1934 Albert Edward Wilkinson (Lib)
1934-1935 William Hemingway (Lab)
1935-1936 Percival Tookey Leigh (?)
1936-1937 Tom Coombs (?)
1937-1938 John Badlay (Lab)
1938-1939 Rowland Winn (Con)
1939-1940 Charles Humphrey Boyle (Lib)
1940-1941 Willie Withey (?)
1941-1942 Hyman Morris (Con)
1942-1943 Arthur Clarke (Lib) died 9 November 1942[10]
Jessie B Kitson (Ind, Lib nominated)[11]
1943-1944 Albert Hayes (?)
1944-1945 Charles Vivian Walker (?)
1945-1946 David Beevers (Labour)[12]
1946-1947 Sir George Martin (Con)
1947-1948 George Brett (Labour)
1948-1949
1949-1950 Norman Vine (?)
1950-1951 Francis Hugh O’Donnell (?)
1951-1952 Francis Eric Tetley (?)
1952-1953 Frank Barlow Burnley (?)
1953-1954 Donald George Cowling (?)
1954-1955 Henry Sidman Vick (?)
1955-1956 Sir James Croysdale (?)
1956-1957 Thomas Austin Jessop (?)
1957-1958 Joseph Hiley (?)
1958-1959 Mary Pearce (?)
1959-1960 Gertrude Annie Stevenson (?)
1960-1961 Lillian Hammond (?)
1961-1962 Percival Arthur Woorward (?)
1962-1963 Harold Watson (?)
1963-1964 Edwin Wooler (?)
1964-1965 Lizzie Naylor (?)
1965-1966 William R Hargreave (?)
1966-1967 Joshua "Jos" Walsh (Lab)
1967-1968 Lawrence Turnbull (?)
1968-1969 John Rafferty (?)
1969-1970 Allan Roberts Bretherick (?)
1970-1971 Arthur Brown (?)
1971-1972 John Trevor V Watson (?)
1972-1973 Albert Smith (Lab)
1973-1974 Kenneth Davison (Con)
1974-1975 Joan de Carteret (?)
1975-1976 Alan Pedley (Con, Headingley)
1976-1977 Ernest Howard Morris (Lab, City & Woodhouse)
1977-1978 William Hudson (Con, Aireborough)
1978-1979 Harry Booth (Lab, Beeston & Holbeck)
1979-1980 Christine Thomas (Con, Chapel Allerton & Scott Hall)
1980-1981 Eric Atkinson (Lab, Bramley)
1981-1982 Patrick "Paddy" Crotty (Con, Roundhay)
1982-1983 Doreen Jenner (Lab, University)
1983-1984 Martin Dodgson (Con, Halton)
1984-1985 Douglas Gabb (Lab, Seacroft)
1985-1986 Sydney Symmonds (Con, Moortown)
1986-1987 Rose Lund (Lab, Rothwell)
1987-1988 Doreen Wood (Con, Halton)
1988-1989 Arthur Vollans (Lab, Seacroft)
1989-1990 Leslie "Les" Carter (Con, Cookridge)
1990-1991 Bill Kilgallon (Lab, University)
1991-1992 Ronald "Ronnie" Feldman (Con, North)
1992-1993 Denise Atkinson (Lab, Bramley)
1993-1994 Keith Loudon (Con, Cookridge)
1994-1995 Christiana Myers (Lab, City & Holbeck)
1995-1996 Margaret "Peggy" White (Con, Roundhay)
1996-1997 Malcolm Bedford (Lab, Wortley)
1997-1998 Linda Middleton (Lab, Middleton)
1998-1999 Graham Kirkland (LD, Otley & Wharfedale)
1999-2000 Keith Parker (Lab, Barwick & Kippax)
2000-2001 Bernard Atha (Lab, Kirkstall)
2001-2002 David Hudson (Con, Wetherby)
2002-2003 Bryan North (Lab, Morley South)
2003-2004 Neil Taggart (Lab, Chapel Allerton)
2004-2005 Christopher "Chris" Townsley (LD, Horsforth)
2005-2006 William "Bill" Hyde (Con, Temple Newsam)
2006-2007 Mohammed Iqbal (Lab, City & Hunslet)
2007-2008 Brian Cleasby (LD, Horsforth)
2008-2009 Frank Robinson (Con, Calverley & Farsley)
2009-2010 Judith Elliott (MBI, Morley South)
2010-2011 James "Jim" McKenna (Lab, Armley)
2011-2012 Revd Alan Taylor (LD, Gipton & Harehills)
2012-2013 Ann Castle (Con, Harewood)
2013-2014 Thomas "Tom" Murray (Lab, Garforth & Swillington)
2014-2015 David Congreve (Lab, Beeston & Holbeck)
2015-2016 Judith Chapman (LD, Weetwood)
2016-2017 Gerald "Gerry" Harper (Lab, Hyde Park & Woodhouse)
2017-2018 Jane Dowson (Lab, Chapel Allerton)
2018-2019 Graham Latty (Con, Guiseley & Rawdon)
2019-2020 Eileen Taylor (Lab, Chapel Allerton)[lower-alpha 1]
2020-2021
2021-2022 Asghar Khan (Lab, Burmantofts and Richmond Hill)
2022-2023 Robert "Bob" Gettings (MBI, Morley North)

Notes
  1. Taylor's original one-year term (2019-2020) was extended for an extra municipal year following the COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of the council's Annual Council Meeting and Mayor Making ceremony of a new Lord Mayor for the 2020-2021 municipal year. Should Taylor remain in office until May 2021, it will be the first time a Lord Mayor has served for two municipal years since George Brett's original term of office (1947-1948) was extended for a municipal year until 1949. Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, his term was extended until the first meeting held after the May 1949 council election.[5][13]

References
  1. Leeds Civic Trust Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine Leeds Coat of Arms
  2. Leeds' first woman Lord Mayor
  3. Margaret Drinkall (2013) The Leeds Book Of Days: 17 November 1942 (The History Press) ISBN 0752479628
  4. "Leeds to get first black Lord Mayor". 16 January 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  5. "Update from Leeds City Council regarding the Lord Mayor and this year's Mayor Making ceremony". leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. 21 May 2020.
  6. "VERBATIM REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF LEEDS CITY COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING ON MONDAY, 28TH JUNE 2004" (PDF). leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  7. "Lord Mayors & Aldermen of Leeds since 1626" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. Fraser, D. (1980). A History of Modern Leeds. Manchester University Press, 1980 England, UK. p. 384. ISBN 9780719007811. Retrieved 26 February 2020. James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale Lord Mayor of Leeds 1896-1897...
  9. "Election of Mayors". The Times. No. 36922. London. 11 November 1902. p. 12.
  10. "NEW MAYOR DROPPED DEAD". The Charlottetown Guardian. 3 December 1942. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  11. "Fantastic photo flashback to year Leeds had its first female Lord Mayor". leedsstar.co.uk. Leeds Star Media. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  12. "Friday flashback: The man behind the name". facebook.com. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. 16 January 2015.
  13. "VERBATIM REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF LEEDS CITY COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING ON MONDAY, 28TH JUNE 2004" (PDF). leeds.gov.uk. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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