Initially, Leese worked as a
teacher of mathematics at
Sidney Stringer School in
Coventry He was
knighted in the
Queen's Birthday Honours 2006 List after overseeing the 10-year regeneration of the city after the
IRA bomb of 1996. He was awarded a
knighthood for "services to local government". Leese was one of the main advocates of
Congestion Charging in Greater Manchester, as part of a bid to the Government's
Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) for a £2.7 billion package of transport funding for
Greater Manchester. Congestion charging was ultimately rejected by the local population in a referendum. On 6 May 2017, Leese was appointed Deputy Mayor for Business and Economy by
Mayor of Greater Manchester, and former
Health Secretary,
Andy Burnham. In October 2021, Leese was announced as the new Chair-designate of the
Integrated Care Board (ICB) for Greater Manchester. He has been chair of the
North West Regional Leaders Board (4NW). In September 2021 during an interview with the
Manchester Evening News, Leese announced he would be stepping down as leader of Manchester City Council in December 2021 and would not be standing in the
2022 local elections. He stepped down as leader of the council on 1 December 2021 and resigned from the council on 4 January 2022, having spent 38 years as a councillor. ==Personal life==