Cllr Judith Blake

Leader
Leeds City Council

Cllr Judith Blake was elected as the first ever female Leader of Leeds City Council in May 2015.  She represents Middleton & Belle Isle in Leeds. She is also the Council’s Executive Board Member for Economy and Culture and is playing a key role in attracting major national and international inward investment in to Leeds. 

In July 2016 Cllr Blake was announced as Chair of the Core Cities Group. The Group represents the Councils of England’s eight largest city economies outside London, along with Glasgow and Cardiff. She is also Vice Chair of the LGA’s Environment, Economy, Housing & Transport Board.

Cllr Blake has been an elected member since 1996. Her time as a Councillor has seen her have responsibility for a wide range of portfolios including Planning, Education and Leisure.  Cllr Blake currently chairs the Council’s Executive Board and has also served as a board member for NHS Leeds and the West Yorkshire Police Authority.  

In her role as Executive Member for Children’s and Families’ Cllr Blake

helped Children’s Services achieve an Ofsted rating of ‘good overall’ with a rating of ‘outstanding’ for Leadership and Management, only 4 other authorities have an ‘outstanding’ rating within their report. 

Jennie Daly

UK Land & Planning Director
Taylor Wimpey Plc

Jennie’s professional background is in Planning with over 20 years’ experience in Development Management, planning assessment and development promotion, with particular expertise in managing complex schemes which include significant elements of housing. 

As UK Land and Planning Director, Jennie’s role has a direct focus on Taylor Wimpey’s land and planning strategy, with responsibilities for, and oversight of, land acquisition and complex planning matters. Jennie leads Taylor Wimpey’s response to the evolving UK planning system and political engagement across the planning policy arena, oversees Sustainability, Technical and Design, and is responsible for the training and development of land and planning skills within the Group. 

In April 2015, Jennie became a non-executive director of Peabody Trust a leading affordable housing provider in Greater London.

Jonathan Morgan

Managing Director
Morgans City Living

Jonathan Morgan is the Managing Director of Morgans, the leading city living agency in Leeds. The business has been at the forefront of the urban revolution in the city for nearly 20 years, working with individual landlords, private developers, housing associations and institutions. The firm specialises in residential sales, property management and development advice and looks after the biggest portfolio of apartments in the city centre. Jonathan comments regularly on Leeds, residential property and buy-to let in the local and national media, where he takes the straightforward Yorkshire approach and is a great believer in local charity. He is a Trustee of Leeds Community Foundation and a Director of two community

enterprises in St George’s Crypt Independent Living and Gipton Fire Station Community Enterprise. He was a joint founder of The Crypt Factor, which has so far raised £500,000 for charity and, having handed over the reigns of that event, is on the hunt for a new one.

Well versed in getting involved in things which are absolutely none of his business, Jonathan is a big believer in civic life and responsibilities and a strong advocate for Leeds. 

David Hodgson

Regional Head of Strategic Development
Commercial Estates Group (CEG)

Over the last 12 years, David has managed CEG's northern Development Team, building a portfolio of more than 20 sites, our £350million proposals for South Bank, Leeds, a significant Manchester City Centre development site and our £400 million Kirkstall Forge development where we recently opened a new railway station and are on site delivering a new commercial, retail, leisure and residential community.

The team has created a strategic land portfolio capable of delivering in the region of 60,000 new homes and recently secured planning permissions for our residential sites across Harrogate Borough and a resolution for the former paper mill site in Oughtibridge, Sheffield.

Prior to CEG, David worked for private family wealth firms delivering development throughout Scotland and the North of England and also Miller Developments where he focused on commercial development.