From the school gates to leader of one of UK’s biggest councils

JUDITH BLAKE can’t remember a time when she wasn’t interested in politics.

But at the same time, she admits she never had any real ambitions for a high-flying political career.

That’s some admission from a woman who is in charge of the third-biggest local authority in the country, Leeds City Council, overseeing a budget of half a billion pounds and playing a key role in what could turn into the biggest ever transport revolution in the North.

Add to that her passionate spearheading of the drive for a One Yorkshire devolution deal, and it could be argued that she is potentially the most powerful politician in Yorkshire.

It’s been quite a journey for a Leeds lass who grew up cheering on Leeds United at Elland Road, and remains a regular in the stands.

Community activism rather than an eye on the corridors of power is what has shaped Coun Blake’s career and her politics.

And it all started, partly at least, at the school gates.

Already a mum of four – she has three sons and a daughter – when she was encouraged by friends to stand for election to Otley town council in the mid1990s, sweeping educational reform was a big factor in her decision to enter politics. She was elected to the city council in 1996. “I got involved in local campaigns through my kids when they started at school,” she explains. “It’s sort of gone on from there, really. I didn’t have a professional political career in mind when I set out. That’s just how it happened.”

An astute and highly intelligent figure, she is a calm and reassuring presence, without any of the showiness of some of her colleagues. It’s no doubt these very qualities which have seen her work her way up the ranks to become Leeds’ first female city council leader. But again, it was other people who recognised her talent and potential to hold the top job before she did.

“Quite a few people had mentioned standing for leader to me over the years,” she says. “But for me, it’s making sure that you are in a position to be able to take up opportunities when they come, and not being so driven by one particular route that everything else gets pushed to the side.

“I’ve seen so many disappointed people in politics who just can’t cope if their ambition is thwarted. I have always held the view that there are a whole range of different ways that you can have that influence. It’s about putting people at the centre.”

Education remains one of Coun Blake’s key political passions, and helping lift the city’s children’s services from an “inadequate” Oftsed rating in 2010 to a “good with outstanding” leadership rating – during her time heading the department – remains among her proudest achievements.

Asked if she is still enjoying the job, exhausting as it must be, she laughs and says “it’s never dull”, but admits “it’s tough at the moment, really tough”.

She took the helm at Leeds Civic Hall during a period of austerity which has seen the city stripped of a third of its Government grants in eight years. As well as trying to keep the city running, she has overseen a difficult, at times turbulent, period for the council and the party.

The devastating floods on Boxing Day 2015, coming just months after she became leader, were a real test of her political