Tech billionaire Elon Musk urged to bid on Lord Mayor of Leeds' flashy 'U1' private number plate worth £500k

A sale of the pricey ‘U1’ registration, that’s thought to be worth half a million pounds, was first suggested by councillors almost a year ago.

It has been in the authority’s ownership since 1903 and was the very first number plate to be issued in the city.

The sale was proposed after Leeds City Council made clear the urgent need to plug a multi-million pound black hole in its budget, unveiling a swathe of cost-saving measures.

And this week, in a gamble on social media, one councillor attempted to rope in the world’s richest man to help alleviate the funding gap.

Tesla boss Elon Musk may live more than 5,000 miles away from Leeds, but it’s thought his hefty wallet could go some way towards taking the edge off the council’s tricky financial position.

He was contacted on his own social media platform X [formerly Twitter] by Coun Stewart Golton, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who asked: “Fancy a bid?”

Coun Golton has been urging the council to flog the showy number plate for some time - and has expressed disappointment at other sales made by the authority in the meantime.

They include Rothwell’s 19th century council offices, which were auctioned off for £340,000.

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“The loss of our local heritage was a blow, but we persisted with pressuring the council to sell the number plate, as when you’re in dire financial straits you should be looking to safeguard as much as possible to keep services running, and dispense of what you really don’t need,” said Coun Golton.

“The Labour Party have resisted doing so for months, but its good that they have finally got their finger out and put forward a proposal.”

However, Coun Alan Lamb, the leader of the city’s Conservative group, has called for a wider public consultation before any sale is made.

Cllr Golton continued: “This number plate was a rich car enthusiast’s purchase that was given to the city for its benefit. The time has come to reap that benefit and sell it on to the next rich car enthusiast, and see the ordinary people of Leeds feel the value of it.”

He added: “In the interests of maximising the return, I have even taken to X to message Elon Musk, the ultimate in rich car enthusiasts, to see if he would like to put in a bid.

“So far, I have had no response, but of course he has been busy of late with more senior UK politicians.”

Responding to the concerns, Coun Debra Coupar, the council’s executive member for resources, said: “The sale of any assets is never something we take lightly and, in an ideal world, would not be something we’d wish to do.

“However, the financial pressures we are facing are simply so acute, we are being forced to look at all manner of options which we have never explored before.

“Earlier this year, the council began consulting with industry experts regarding the potential sale of the U1 number plate.

“Through those conversations, it was clear that any sale could give us a one-of-a-kind opportunity potentially to secure a significant amount of funding, which would help us protect vital services whilst having no tangible impact on the people of Leeds.

“The council is committed to ensuring the disposal of any assets is always properly considered and discussed, and this has of course taken some time to progress due to the number of complex checks involved.

“However, in the current circumstances, this is an opportunity we must take, and our priority has to be to do whatever we can to balance our budget, meet the needs of residents and not risk being driven to the point of financial distress.”

The ‘U1’ number plate comes with a great deal of history, having been purchased by motoring pioneer and founding member of the Automobile Association Rowland Winn more than 120 years ago.

When Mr Winn’s friend Arthur Currer Briggs became the Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1903, he gifted the U1 plate for use on the civic vehicle, and it has been maintained by Lord Mayors of Leeds ever since.

Mr Winn, one of the city’s first car dealers, was himself later elected Lord Mayor of Leeds from 1938 to 1939. He retired from public life in the 1950s and was awarded the Freedom of the City in 1956.

It is expected that if the ‘U1’ plate is sold, it will be replaced on the Lord Mayor’s car by another council-owned registration plate reading ‘L6EDS’, which the authority has said is “substantially less valuable”.