A POLITICIAN from Otley will take up a place in the House of Lords next year. Councillor Judith Blake CBE, the Leader of Leeds City Council, has been chosen to be a Labour Party Peer in the upper chamber. Cllr Blake was named among the new peers that were announced by the Government on Tuesday, December 22. The former Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will also take up a position in the Lords in 2021. Responding to the announcement, she said: “I am honoured to be selected to join the House of Lords at this hugely important time. “It has been a great privilege to serve as Leader of my home city of Leeds for the last five and a half years.
A POLITICIAN from Otley will take up a place in the House of Lords next year. Councillor Judith Blake CBE, the Leader of Leeds City Council, has been chosen to be a Labour Party Peer in the upper chamber. Cllr Blake was named among the new peers that were announced by the Government on Tuesday, December 22. The former Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will also take up a position in the Lords in 2021. Responding to the announcement, she said: “I am honoured to be selected to join the House of Lords at this hugely important time. “It has been a great privilege to serve as Leader of my home city of Leeds for the last five and a half years.
AN OTLEY councillor is calling on Otley residents to act fast to save the town’s swimming pool. Chippindale Pool has been earmarked for closure under wider cost-cutting plans by Leeds City Council as it tries to balance its budget, and plug a multi-million pound gap, for the year ahead. Although not owned by the council the pool, which is based at Prince Henry’s Grammar School, is supported by the local authority. The council says that ending that arrangement would save it £37,000 in 2020-21, plus a further £50,000 in ‘other service areas’. The school and local politicians, however, have branded the proposal - part of a package of cost-cutting measures that also includes plans to close Leeds Sailing & Activity Centre, at Yeadon - as devastating.