John Leech (politician)

Cllr. John Leech
Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington
In office 5 May 2005 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Keith Bradley (Lab)
Succeeded by	Jeff Smith (Lab)
Majority	1,894 (4.21%)
Member of Manchester City Council for Barlow Moor & Chorlton Park
In office 7 May 1998 – 8 May 2008
Preceded by	Arthur Maloney (Lab)
Succeeded by	Bernie Ryan (LD)
Majority	892 (30.8%)
Member of Manchester City Council for Didsbury West
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2016
Preceded by	Carl Ollerhead (Lab)
Majority	702 (16.09%)
Personal details
Born	(1971-04-11) 11 April 1971 Hastings, East Sussex, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Alma mater	Brunel University
Website	http://www.johnleech.org.uk/

John Sampson Macfarlane Leech^[1] (born 11 April 1971,^[2] Hastings, East Sussex) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and councillor for Didsbury West on Manchester City Council, where he currently stands as the sole opposition member facing 95 Labour councillors. He was councillor for Barlow Moor and Chorlton Park Ward 1998 until elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Withington in 2005 where he remained for ten years fighting off a challenge from Lucy Powell, until 2015 when he lost the Parliamentary seat to Labour. He was elected back on to Manchester City Council less than a year later with 53% of the vote. In the 2005–2010 Parliament he was a member of the Transport Select Committee and was appointed a Shadow Transport Spokesperson in 2006. He is widely recognised as the 'architect' of the successful campaign to pardon Alan Turing. ^[3] In October 2016, Leech's social media channels were locked down and police officers investigated an incident after an anonymous user said they would 'bring the knuckle dusters' and take the 'chance to crook Leech'. ^[4]

Background

Leech grew up in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, where his father became a Minister at Chorlton Methodist Church. He went to the independent Manchester Grammar School in Fallowfield, Loreto College in Hulme, and Brunel University in Uxbridge where he studied History and Politics and also joined the Liberal Democrat Party. He received an Upper-Second Class Honours degree upon graduating. After leaving university he worked as a trainee manager for McDonald's and part-time at the RAC in Stretford as a call centre insurance claims handler.

Political career

In 1998 Leech was elected to Manchester City Council, as a Councillor for Barlow Moor and later for Chorlton Park following boundary changes to the ward. He was Deputy Leader of the council's Opposition Group, acting as a spokesperson for Planning and the Environment.^[5]

Leech was elected at the 2005 general election, unexpectedly defeating Keith Bradley, the incumbent Labour Party MP, by a swing of over 17% - the largest swing in the country that year. Leech became the first Liberal or Liberal Democrat to win a Manchester seat since 1929

John Leech was always a very favourable Member of Parliament and polls consistently placed him as one of the most liked MPs in the North.^[6] A poll taken before the 2015 General Election placed Leech as the most favourable MP in Greater Manchester with a 92% name recongition rating and an 86% approval rating. ^[7] During his time as MP, he won numerous awards for his work; notably the first ever Patchwork MP of the Year for his "tireless work with minority and ethnic groups" and Brake's MP of the Year and MP of the Month, twice, for his work surrounding road safety in his constituency, which included the inputting of several 20 mph zones by schools.^[8]

During the 2016 EU Referendum, Leech campaigned to remain. ^[9]

Expenses

During and after the 2009 expenses scandal, John Leech's expense claims were without controversy.^[10] Most of his expenses were to cover office and staff expenses.^[10] Leech had one of the lowest expenses in the North of England and voted against MP's having a pay rise in 2013.^[11]

Rebellions

An article published by the Manchester Evening News in early 2015 revealed that Leech was the second most rebellious MP in the North of England voting against his own party, whip and Government many times.^[12]

Liberal Democrat-Conservative Coalition

Following the general election of 2010, no one political party was able to secure a majority in the House of Commons. As a result, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats entered into negotiations with each other to form the United Kingdom's first coalition government since the Second World War. Leech was one of only two MPs not to vote for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition agreement formed by party leader Nick Clegg in 2010. The other MP was former leader Charles Kennedy.^[13]

Tuition Fees

Leech was also one of the 21 Liberal Democrat MPs who kept their pledge to vote against the increased tuition fees bill.^[14] Leech said the increase could "discourage some young people from going to university in the future" and that he "benefited from a free education and left university with a very small level of debt. So frankly I am not about to vote to leave future graduates with tens of thousands of pounds of debt." ^[15] Leech argued that the NUS 'Liar Liar' campaign should not be mounted in Manchester since he was the only Liberal Democrat MP in the city and he had voted against the increase. Despite this, the NUS 'Liar Liar' campaign went ahead, though singled out neighbouring MPs Mark Hunter and Andrew Stunell instead.^[16]

Spare Room Subsidy / Bedroom Tax

Leech voted against the 'Bedroom Tax' ^[17] stating: "It is a tax that targets the poor and I wouldn't let it pass under my watch." ^[18]

Elections

John Leech has been campaigning in south Manchester for over 25 years. He began campaigning for Yasmin Zalzala, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the 1997 and 2001 general elections. He first stood for election himself in the 1998 local elections.

1998 local election

John Leech first stood for election in Barlow Moor ward (now split into Didsbury West and Chorlton Park) in 1998. He was elected as councillor for the ward with 58% of the vote. ^[19]

2002 local election

Leech stood for re-election in his Barlow Moor ward in 2002. He was successful, securing 61% of the vote. ^[20]

2004 local election

In 2004, Manchester faced all out elections due to boundary changes to wards. Leech stood in Chorlton Park which covered most of his former Barlow Moor ward. He was re-elected with 48% of the vote. ^[21]

2005 general election

John Leech was elected MP for Manchester Withington on his first attempt with a swing of over 17% from Labour to Liberal Democrats - the largest in the country that year.^[22] His election was thought to be partly due to the Iraq War Labour Backlash as well as a strong local government base, and popular name recognition built up over the years of being a local councillor.^[23]

2010 general election

At the general election held on 6 May 2010 John Leech was re-elected the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, after a close contest with rival Lucy Powell (Labour Co-operative), increasing his majority to 1,894 following a swing of 2.4% from Labour to the Liberal Democrats.^[24]

2015 general election

In 2015 the Liberal Democrats faced a national collapse of support across the country. In early 2015 John Leech launched his re-election campaign entitled 'Make it 15'. Despite a strong campaign battle widely acclaimed by press, critics and constituents, securing nearly 12,000 votes, Leech lost his seat to Labour. Within three weeks of losing his seat, Leech confirmed he would stand fewer than 12 months later in the Manchester City Council local elections in May 2016.

2016 local election

Just a few weeks after losing his seat in the 2015 General Election, Leech confirmed he would stand in the Manchester local elections on 5 May 2016. The Manchester Evening News broke the news with Leech stating; 'I promised not to give up on the residents of Manchester Withington, and I'm not going to. I will continue to fight for south Manchester as I always have done'. ^[25] John Leech stood in Didsbury West, one of the seven wards within his former Parliamentary constituency. He was elected with 53% of the vote, overturning an 810 Labour majority into a 702 majority for himself.^[26] Didsbury West was the most contested seat in the city with an unusually high turnout of 45% - thought to be because of the high-profile campaigns run by both major parties (Liberal Democrats & Labour). He stands as the sole opposition on Manchester City Council. Leech's win was hailed as 'historic' signifying the first gain for any party in Manchester other than Labour for the first time in six years and provided the city with its first opposition for two years. ^[27]

2018 local election

John Leech will re-stand in Didsbury West ward in the 2018 local elections.

Notable work

During John Leech's 25 years in public office, he has been at the forefront of numerous campaigns.

EU Referendum

John Leech campaigned to remain during the 2016 EU referendum. Leech and Tim Farron - leader of the Liberal Democrats - accused the EU campaigns of 'ignoring' and 'sidelining' the North. In a blog post on his website, Leech pleaded with Mancunians to 'send a message to the world that [Manchester] is an open, tolerant, outward-looking, proud and patriotic city.' ^{[28] [29] [30]} After the referendum was won by Leave, Leech led a pro-European rally in Manchester where he said he would "not stand by and watch Manchester suffer for something they didn't vote for" ^[31]

Syrian Refugee Crisis

On the 5th October, John Leech's questioning during Manchester Council's full meeting revealed that Manchester was yet to accept a single refugee under the Government's 2015 resettlement scheme due to disagreements with funding. Leech accused the council of being 'sickeningly shallow' ^[32] and demanded the council commit to housing 50 Syrian refugee families and as many unaccompanied Syrian refugee children as possible. The council was vague in its response but said 'Manchester would play its part.' ^[33]

Campaign to Tackle Gambling

John Leech actively campaigned to reduce the stake on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2. ^[34] He submitted several motions to Parliament and spoke out frquently on the issue. ^[35] He received support from across parties and campaign groups including Stop The FOBT's. ^[36] His first bill to have the Statuary Instrument (SI) reduced to £50 FOBT threshold in the first week of February was defeated. ^[37]

Campaign to Pardon Alan Turing

John Leech has been described as the 'architect' of Alan Turing's pardon ^[38] following his most prominent campaign which was in attempt to pardon WWII scientist, Alan Turing who was convicted of homosexuality, later committing suicide. ^[39] Leech submitted several motions to parliament and campaigned hard to secure the pardon. At the UK premiere of the film based upon Turing's life, The Imitation Game, the film producers publicly thanked John for his work in bringing the topic to public attention and successfully securing Turing's pardon.^[40] John's campaign then turned to pardoning the 75,000 other men criminally convicted.^[41] Leech was quoted saying it was "utterly disgusting and ultimately just embarrassing" that the conviction was upheld as long as it was, and celebrated the posthumous pardon.^[42][43]

Campaign for Safe Standing

Leech led a high-profile campaign for Safe Standing.^[44] Standing had been banned in English football's top two divisions following the Taylor Report into the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster. Leech toll the Commons that clubs should be allowed to install 'rail-seating' which allows supporters to stand with the option of sitting down following the lead of countries including Germany, Austria and Sweden that operate safe standing which can often reduce ticket prices.^{[44][45][46][47]}

Campaign for Metrolink

In 2005 Leech made an election pledge that if elected he would ensure the Metrolink tram system would come through his constituency.^[48] Leech campaigned for many years on the issue and in 2012 it was finally delivered two years behind schedule, running through south Manchester, ending at East Didsbury.^{[49][50][51][52]}

Anti Homophobia

For many years Leech has campaigned against homophobia, speaking passionately in Parliament about the need for same sex marriage, and for homophobia to be stamped out. In 2013, he ran a high-profile campaign calling for homophobic chants at football matches to be outlawed.^[53][54] Politics.co.uk gave him the runner-up position in the magazine's monthly ‘top MP’ honour for his tireless work.^[53] Also in 2013, a letter 'leaked' from Leech's office saw the MP slam one of his constituents as "ignorant, offensive and homophobic" after the constituent attacked Leech for campaigning on same sex marriage and to eradicate homophobic chanting at football matches. Leech's stance and strongly worded letter was welcomed by LGTBQ+ groups.^[55]

Awards & Accolades

John Leech was a highly respected local MP both in and out of Parliament, he completed more than 111,000 pieces of casework ^[56] and is the constituency's most-awarded MP to date. ^[57]Most notably, he won the first ever Liberal Democrat 'MP of the Year' award, for his 'tireless work with minority and disadvantaged groups'. He also won other awards that include 'Road Safety MP of the Year' amongst others.^[58]

Endorsements

2015 Party Leadership Contest

John Leech supported Tim Farron in the 2015 Liberal Democrat party leadership contest.^[59]

2017 Greater Manchester Mayoral Election

John Leech supported Trafford Councillor Jane Brophy, the Liberal Democrats candidate, in the 2017 Greater Manchester Mayoral Election.^[60]

2017 Liverpool and Merseyside Mayoral Election

John Leech supported Knowsley Councillor Carl Cashman, the Liberal Democrats candidate, in the 2017 Liverpool and Merseyside Mayoral Election.^[61]

Violent Twitter threats

On 7th November 2016 the Manchester Evening News reported that Greater Manchester police were investigating a series of serious threats directed at John Leech. An anonymous user posted that he would ‘bring the knuckle dusters’ and take the chance to ‘crook’ Leech at a community basketball event. The tweets were immediately reported to police and the date of Leech’s visit to the basketball centre was changed due to fears for his safety. He continued to hold surgeries in his ward of Didsbury West, but was accompanied. A leaked email to Liberal Democrat members said that he was ‘laying low for a while’. A spokesman for Leech said: “We take all threats against anybody whether it be councillors, MPs or volunteers very seriously. Councillors and MPs should feel comfortable working and attending events in their community without the fear of being abused or threatened in any way. We thank Greater Manchester Police for following this up. We have not asked for any further action.” ^[62]

Personal life

Leech is an amateur dramatics enthusiast (Manchester Road Players), and his late father was a Methodist minister. Leech is also a football supporter, and season-ticket holder, following Manchester City F.C. and an enthusiastic member of the Parliamentary Football team.^[63]

References

External links

• John Leech official constituency website
• Profile at the Liberal Democrats
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record