'Happy 135th birthday, YEP': Leeds City Council leader highlights title's role in pushing Leeds forward

There are certain names and places that, over the years, have had headlining roles in the story of Leeds.

Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos, for instance. Kirkgate Market, St James’s Hospital and the City Varieties are three more.

Also sitting proudly on the list is the Yorkshire Evening Post, which has been reporting on and for the people of Leeds since 1890.

It’s a real pleasure, therefore, to have the opportunity – on behalf of everyone at Leeds City Council – to wish it a very happy 135th birthday.

Residents across the city will have their own memories of the YEP in years gone by, together with an appreciation of the part it continues to play in local life.

Some will have bought the paper in its broadsheet era, when illustrious figures such as Keith Waterhouse and Barbara Taylor Bradford were among those filing copy for its various editions.

Broadsheet was still the format of choice in the 1990s, when I was busy combining my schoolwork with a part-time job selling the paper to commuters at a shop in Leeds Bus Station.

Others, meanwhile, will remember picking up the YEP’s Green Post from a street vendor on a Saturday evening in the 1970s so they could – in the days before mobile phones – get the latest sports reports and scores.

And plenty of us will recall front pages that have marked major 21st century moments for our city, from the Boxing Day floods of 2015 to the visit of Nelson Mandela and the hosting of the Tour de France’s Grand Depart.

The media landscape has, of course, changed massively over the last two decades and the YEP’s commitment to moving with the times means it today brings you the news via its website, social channels and podcasts as well as in print.

What hasn’t changed, though, is its determination to fly the flag for Leeds and demand the best for the city’s communities.

One famous example of the difference it has made is the Half and Half Appeal, which was launched in 1982 and raised more than £3m for two Leeds hospices, St Gemma’s and Wheatfields.

More recently, the paper’s Leeds Needs an Arena campaign set out a compelling case for the creation of a new world-class music and events venue in the city.

This was something we were delighted to deliver and is a fine illustration of how the council and the YEP can work together for the benefit of Leeds.

A newspaper must also be a critical friend to those – at local and national level – who make decisions that affect the lives of its readers.

With the YEP, we know that it asks questions and raises issues with the right journalistic intentions and can rely on its team to report our answers fairly and accurately.

In a world where misinformation and false narratives are rife, that counts for a great deal.

Happy 135th, Yorkshire Evening Post. Here’s to many more years.

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