Peter Soulsby

He was first elected to Leicester City Council in 1973 and served as the Leader of the Council twice, firstly from 1981 to 1994 and secondly from 1996 to 1999. He remained a Labour councillor until he was defeated in the Spinney Hill ward in May 2003.[5]

He unsuccessfully contested the Harborough parliamentary constituency at the 1979 general election. In 1984, he stood for election for the Leicester European Parliamentary constituency, narrowly losing to the Conservative incumbent Fred Tuckman by 1.6%.[6]

In 2004 he was the Labour Party's candidate in the Leicester South by-election; he had been the election agent for the previous MP, Jim Marshall, and like Marshall was not always in agreement with the party's policies. Despite his anti-war stance, Soulsby lost by 5.6% to Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats in a by-election which was dominated by the Iraq War and the newly formed left-wing party Respect, which took 12.7% of the vote. In the 2005 general election, less than a year later, he won the seat back for Labour from Gill.

On 31 October 2006, Soulsby was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.[7] He also rebelled against the government on its proposals to permit the detention of terrorist suspects for 90 days without trial;[8] however, in June 2008, he supported the government on the proposal to extend the detention of terrorist suspects for 42 days.[9] (see Terrorism Act 2006.) He retained his seat in the 2010 general election with a 5% swing from the Liberal Democrats.

In June 2010, he was selected as a Labour member of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee.[10]

On 5 March 2011, Soulsby was selected as Labour's candidate for the new post of Mayor of Leicester.[11] He resigned as MP for Leicester South in order to contest the mayoral election.[12] On 1 April 2011, Soulsby was appointed Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, effecting his resignation from the House of Commons.[2]

Sir Peter Soulsby was elected Mayor of Leicester on 5 May 2011, with a majority of 37,260.[13] He had previously served as Leader of Leicester City Council from 1981 to 1994 and from 1996 to 1999.[14] In August 2011, he claimed to have delivered 99 out of 100 pledges within the first 100 days of office.[15] He said the remaining pledge, on the future of the council offices in New Walk, would be achieved by Christmas.[15] However he was criticised by opposition councillors for not explaining what services would be cut in future.[15]

He has been re-elected as Mayor of Leicester twice, in 2015 and in 2019.

In November 2011, a salary of £100,000 was recommended by the Mayor's remuneration committee—a rise of £44,000, based on the fact that the mayor carried out the work of the city's former chief executive, who was paid £175,000.[16] The council was at the time proposing cuts of £70m in services, and the recommendations were criticised by opposing councillors and trade unionists alike. The independence of the committee, which included the vice chancellor of the local university, the head of the chamber of trade and a charity sector worker, was also challenged by the only Conservative councillor "as they worked closely with Sir Peter".[17] The committee, whose report had been leaked, also recommended a reduction in the number of councillors and the abolition of the post of Lord Mayor.[18] Soulsby dismissed the committee the following day, saying it had made "fundamental costing mistakes" and would have led to "totally unacceptable extra costs."[18]

In March 2012 Soulsby's salary was set at £65,000, "comparable to an MP's salary."[19]

On Thursday 5 May 2016 Mohammed Zameer Khan[20] approached Sir Peter whilst he was outside a city school campaigning for the Labour Party candidate in that day's Police and Crime Commissioner election. Soulsby stated afterwards that the male had tried to bribe him. Sir Peter stated that the male patted himself down and said that he wasn't recording. He then stated that the man had offered him ten percent of any incentive money if Sir Peter allowed him to open a leisure facility, namely a bowling alley at the then disused and derelict Haymarket Theatre. Sir Peter returned to his council office and wrote a report on the event which he handed to council lawyers who informed the police.

The case went through court with the male (Mohammed Zameer Khan) stating that he had patted himself down to apologise as he was wearing pyjamas after dropping his child off at school, denied that he said anything about not recording the discussion and stated that he had said that he would give ten percent to charity and had not offered it as an incentive to Sir Peter. Sir Peter stated that charity was not mentioned at any point. Sir Peter described it as ‘’the most blatant attempt to bribe me in forty years of public life’’. The defendant wept in the dock as he was acquitted by the jury. He said that Sir Peter was a celebrity and ‘’hero type’’ and that he was over-awed by the encounter.[21][22][23]

On 25 December 2017, a man who pulled in to a bus stop on Christmas Day to help a homeless man was fined by the council. Lee Williamson of Leicester, said he stopped to give a homeless man a blanket, hat, gloves, scarf, food, and to chat to him. Mr Williamson later received a £70 fine, despite there being no buses on 25 December. Leicester City Council said the camera enforcement was an important safety measure.

When Soulsby confirmed that the penalty would not be enforced, he said "It was quite clear what Lee was doing was an act of a good Samaritan on Christmas Day and even though it's important to keep this safe... there are exceptions."[24]

On the 14 June 2020, the Leicester Mercury and The Sun published photographs showing Soulsby had visited his girlfriend during coronavirus lockdown and reported calls from local Liberal and Conservative councilors for Soulsby to apologise and resign.[25] He rejected calls to stand down and apolgised on the 15th June 2020. He was quoted by the BBC as saying: "It can be certainly interpreted as against the spirit of the lockdown, if not against the regulations."[26]

Soulsby has been a member of the board of British Waterways (now the Canals and Rivers Trust) since July 1998, becoming Vice-Chairman in 2000. He is a senior Unitarian , serving on the Executive Committee of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches and acting as its convenor. He has also served as a member of the Audit Commission.