Leeds council's longest-serving Labour councillor John Illingworth is standing down - and seven others are leaving too

Coun John Illingworth was first elected to represent the Kirkstall area of the city in 1979. In recent years he has become a vocal campaigner on environmental issues and particularly on preventing flooding, which devastated Kirkstall Road on Boxing Day 2015.

He is one of eight Labour councillors set to leave Civic Hall next year. Councillors Lou Cunningham (Armley), former MP Paul Truswell (Middleton Park), Denise Ragan (Burmantofts and Richmond Hill), Kamila Maqsood (Gipton and Harehills) and Julie Heselwood (Bramley and Stanningley) are also standing down when their four-year terms expire in the spring.

Earlier this year, Neil Walshaw (Headingley and Hyde Park) and Lisa Mulherin (East Ardsley and Robin Hood) also confirmed that they would not be seeking re-election in May.

Explaining his decision, Coun Illingworth said: “I’ve reached 77 and I feel maybe it’s time I put my boots up. I’ve done over 40 years now. I won’t be giving up on politics. I’ll still be campaigning over various things, including for my successor as Labour candidate and around low carbon heating, which is something I’m working on at the moment.”

A keen cyclist and prominent voice within the council on climate change, Coun Illingworth has previously hit out at what he called “Donald Trumps” among the city’s older population due to their lack of willingness to address carbon emissions.

The Labour veteran said one of his highlights in office has been seeing the city’s children’s heart surgery unit saved from the threat of closure in 2013. As chairperson of the Yorkshire and Humber health scrutiny committee at the time, he was involved in the campaign to rescue it.

He said he had a “sixth sense” that the case to close it didn’t stack up, adding: “That was a joyous moment (when we found out it was saved). They’ve got great staff and they’ve done wonders for patients. It’s right that we have children’s heart surgery here in Leeds.”

Asked if he had a message for the residents who he has served for almost 44 years, Coun Illingworth said: “It’s been great to know you. Kirkstall really is a lovely ward to represent. There’s a real mixture of people, of age groups of houses, of races and of opinions. They’ve always been lovely to me and they’ve been wonderful electors.”

Coun Illingworth’s retirement leaves the current Conservative group leader, Andrew Carter, as the only serving Leeds councillor who was first elected in the 1970s.

Coun Truswell, 66, is also retiring from politics after a distinguished career. First elected to the Headingley ward in 1982, he later became Labour’s MP for Pudsey in 1997 – a role he held until 2010. He then returned to Civic Hall as a councillor for Middleton Park in 2012.

Coun Truswell said: “There’s a satirical cliché about politicians standing down to spend more time with their families, but in my case it happens to be true.”

Meanwhile, Coun Cunningham announced she would be standing down in a tweet earlier this month, having been first elected in 2019.

“I want to let people know that I have not put myself forward as a candidate for the local elections next year,” she said. “Until then, business as usual and although I will be stepping down from my role, I won’t be stepping away from my heartland Armley and my community.”