THE LEEDS BRIEF ⏰ Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Good morning Leeds - Wednesday 6 May, the last day before polling. A packed edition today. Drugs and deaths remain a significant problem at HMP Leeds. A moving ceremony this Friday will honour the 49 Caribbean veterans who came here to fight for Britain and stayed to build this city. A Leeds man with invisible disabilities pushed his body to its limits in the Lake District to show the world what it means to keep pushing. And the city's cycle network has added 113 miles over a decade - and not everyone's happy about it. Let's go. 👇

🗳️ ELECTIONS - TOMORROW | THURSDAY 7 MAY

⏰ Polls open 7 am - 10pm. Photo ID required. Results Friday 8 May at the John Charles Centre for Sport.

⚠️ Green Party Killingbeck candidate's Nazi comparison stays on ballot - Footage has emerged of the Green Party's Killingbeck and Seacroft candidate Nosheen Majid telling an elderly couple at a pro-Palestine march: "Do you know the injustice and why the Second World War happened with the Nazis and the Jews. And now the Jews are doing the same thing to the Palestinians and that's why we march." When the Yorkshire Post raised the video, Leeds Green Party confirmed she remains a candidate, saying she "did not clearly distinguish between the actions of the Israeli government and Jewish people more broadly." The party said she "regrets that her words did not reflect that as clearly as they should have." Since nominations have closed, her name cannot be removed from Thursday's ballot. The controversy comes amid a national antisemitism crisis engulfing the Greens - with multiple other candidates charged with spreading hatred online — and follows a 14-point fall in Green leader Zack Polanski's approval rating. (Source: Yorkshire Post)

📋 Your election checklist for tomorrow - Find your polling station at wheredoivote.co.uk. Photo ID required — expired ID accepted if you are still recognisable. Full candidates by ward at leeds.gov.uk/elections. Postal vote problems: call 0113 222 4411 or email electors@leeds.gov.uk before 5pm Thursday. Results at the John Charles Centre for Sport, Friday 8 May.

🚨 CRIME & COURTS

⚠️ HMP Leeds: drugs, overcrowding and self-inflicted deaths remain significant - new inspection - A follow-up inspection of HMP Leeds by HM Inspectorate of Prisons has found that drugs, severe overcrowding and self-inflicted deaths remain significant problems, despite a new governor bringing "drive and determination" to the prison. The Category B jail houses almost 1,000 inmates and was found last year to have the highest number of self-inflicted deaths of any adult male prison in the UK. Since the previous inspection, three more men have taken their own lives and there were three serious self-harm incidents requiring resuscitation. Inspectors found most men were still sharing cramped cells designed for one, with limited time out of cell. The report warned: "Leaders told us some men were being paid to get recalled and bring drugs into the jail." On the positive side, staff-prisoner relationships and cleanliness had improved, support for new arrivals was stronger, and education provision had made "significant" progress. A Prison Service spokesperson said they were "investing over £40m in new prison security nationally." (Source: BBC)

⚖️ Man pleads guilty to killing Leeds nursery owner in Ilkley crash - Sohail Jahangir, 23, of Bradford, has pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court to causing the death by dangerous driving of Adrian Stocks, 59 — director of Cliffe House Day Nurseries, which has sites in Pudsey, Bramhope, Horsforth, Baildon, Burley in Wharfedale and Shipley. Mr Stocks was killed in April 2023 when Jahangir's Audi attempted to overtake on Denton Road, Ilkley, as Mr Stocks signalled to turn across Denton Bridge. The judge told Jahangir he had pleaded guilty to "an extremely serious matter" and that only a custodial sentence could be imposed. Sentencing has been adjourned for a pre-sentence report. (Source: ExaminerLive)

🌿 COMMUNITY & HERITAGE

✡️ Caribbean RAF veterans to be honoured with memorial garden in Chapeltown - this Friday - This Friday 8 May, Jamaica Society Leeds will unveil a memorial garden and plaque at Jamaica House in Chapeltown — honouring 49 Caribbean RAF veterans who served in the Second World War and later settled in Leeds, helping to build the city and its communities. The plaque bears the names of all 49 veterans; family members from children to great-great-grandchildren will attend the private ceremony, alongside His Excellency Alexander Williams, Jamaican High Commissioner to the UK. RAF cadets will read the roll of honour, followed by a wreath-laying and a rendition of The Last Post on Tenor Steel Pan by Melvin Zakers of New World Steel Orchestra. JSL Chair Wendy Henry said the veterans were "true pioneers" who "helped to set up organisations that still operate today." Yvonne English, widow of Hubert 'Glen' English MBE — a JSL founder — said: "My late husband Glen was 17 when he left his parents and a place at college behind to serve in a war thousands of miles away." The city's last surviving Caribbean WWII veteran, Alford Gardner, died in 2024. The memorial was funded by Unity Housing, Wades Charity and the University of Leeds' YPIP grant. (Source: Yorkshire Evening Post | Voice Online)

🚲 TRANSPORT & ACTIVE TRAVEL

🚴 Leeds adds 113 miles of cycle lanes in a decade - praise and anger in equal measure - Leeds City Council has added 113 miles of cycle lanes to its network over the last decade, with the latest major scheme - a £44m redesign of Dawsons Corner junction near Pudsey connecting the A647 Stanningley Road and A6120 Ring Road - now under construction, with around 57,000 vehicles and 1,200 pedestrians and cyclists passing through daily. Martin Bennett-Stanley of the Leeds Cycling Campaign said it was "a step in the right direction," though not yet at Dutch standard. But in Meanwood, drivers have been vocal about unintended consequences — junctions closed to traffic in certain directions have led to rat-running on residential streets. Dawsons Corner work is expected to complete in early 2027. (Source: BBC)

🏗️ Leeds station £46m revamp nearing completion — lifts and pedestrianisation coming this summer - Commuters at Leeds train station are finally seeing the light at the end of the four-year tunnel. The £46.1m Leeds City Station Sustainable Travel Gateway scheme — which began in May 2022 — is approaching completion. The main entrance pathways have reopened, two new passenger lifts are being installed, and New Station Street is set to be fully pedestrianised, with the entire scheme expected to be complete by this summer. The project has involved removing 13 iron beams weighing up to 40 tonnes each to access the Mill Goit — a historic underground channel of the River Aire — which required reinforcing before construction above could continue. (Source: Leeds Live)

💼 BUSINESS & INNOVATION

🏆 Leeds tech company Ionix wins the King's Award for Enterprise — the UK's highest business honour - Leeds deep-technology company Ionix Advanced Technologies has been awarded His Majesty The King's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2026 for its HotSense sensor platform — a University of Leeds spin-out founded in 2011 headquartered at Intercity Way, LS13. HotSense operates continuously in extreme environments from -200°C to +600°C, in oil and gas, nuclear, power generation and petrochemical sectors worldwide, where conventional sensors fail. CEO Tim Stevenson said: "This recognition reflects years of advanced materials research and a clear commercial conviction to improve the resilience of the world's critical infrastructure." During her 2025 visit, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said "businesses like Ionix showcase the great potential that Britain has to lead in advanced manufacturing." (Source: Pressat / Ionix)

🏢 Zenzero IT services moves into historic Concordia Works - only one floor now left - IT support services firm Zenzero has taken 3,056 sq ft on the second floor of Concordia Works on Sovereign Street, paying £28 per sq ft on a 10-year lease, in a deal brokered by Knight Frank's Leeds office. The BCO award-winning former yarn and cord warehouse — built in the early 20th century and refurbished by Boultbee Brooks - now has only its first floor remaining available. Zenzero follows software company PanIntelligence, which moved in last summer. Louis Lawley-Adams, Zenzero's strategy and business operations director, said: "Moving to Concordia Works marks an exciting new chapter. The space will provide the perfect setting for our staff to collaborate, innovate, and thrive." (Source: Insider Media)

🏗️ Kirkstall Brewery campus secured with £13.5m bridging deal — 151 apartments planned - Hampshire Trust Bank has provided a £13.5m bridging facility for the Kirkstall Brewery campus — a 664-bed former student village — to fund its repositioning: 442 beds have planning consent for conversion to 151 private rented apartments, while 202 student accommodation beds are retained. A lease with Leeds City Council across part of the retained accommodation is expected to deliver approximately £2.5m per annum in savings to the council. (Source: Property Reporter)

🏃 PEOPLE

🥾 Leeds man with Ehlers-Danlos and ADHD completes two-night Lake District hike - raises £900 - Jamie Kian Pennington, 24, from Leeds, founder of JKP Autocare, has completed a two-night wilderness hike in the Lake District (1–3 May) to raise awareness of invisible disabilities - conditions that are real and debilitating but not visible to others. Jamie has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a connective tissue disorder causing joint pain, hypermobility and increased tissue fragility - and ADHD, neither of which were diagnosed until his twenties despite years of symptoms beginning at 13. He raised £900 for four charities: EDS UK, Ambitious About Autism, Andy's Man Club and Mind. During 30 days of training, he stopped strangers on the street — while wearing a 10kg backpack — to share his story and start conversations. "My ultimate aim is to bring a community together that's been sidelined and overlooked for so many years," he said. "The main motto behind everything is to just keep pushing." (Source: Yorkshire Evening Post)

🎓 EDUCATION & UNIVERSITIES

👑 King Charles hands the University of Leeds the Queen Elizabeth Prize for 150 years of textiles research - The University of Leeds received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education, one of the highest honours a UK university can receive, when King Charles and Queen Camilla personally presented it to Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West and Professor Stephen Russell at St James's Palace in February. The award recognises 150 years of outstanding textile research. Leeds Beckett University was also honoured at the same ceremony for its prison education programme at HMP Full Sutton. (Sources: Yorkshire Post · University of Leeds)

🎯 Leeds Beckett graduate shortlisted for Educate North Award - Charlie Allen, who graduated from Leeds Beckett Business School in 2025 with a first-class Business Management with Enterprise degree, has been shortlisted for an Educate North Award after winning both the Social Enterprise Awards and EUREKA competition with Padel Fit — a community padel and wellness concept tackling inequalities in Oldham. He has since launched Real Reformer Studio. (Source: Leeds Beckett)

🍺 FOOD, DRINK & NIGHTLIFE

🍻 Tommy Wass wins midnight licence after £250k revamp - South Leeds pub The Tommy Wass on Dewsbury Road — popular with Leeds United fans — can now serve drinks until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays after a one-hour extension was approved by Leeds City Council, alongside Sunday opening from 11am. Owner Star Pubs invested £250,000 in the revamp; new licensee Demi Hurley took over following a full January transformation. (Sources: Yorkshire Evening Post · South Leeds Life)

🌱 COMMUNITY

🌿 £10,000 crowdfunder to connect Kirkstall Valley Farm and community sauna to the grid - Leeds Community Sauna at Kirkstall Valley Farm is running a £10,000 crowdfunder to connect both the sauna and the farm to the electrical grid — currently running on temporary battery power. Donations of £20+ by 7 May receive an A3 risograph print by artist Andrea Miranda. Donate at zeffy.com. (Source: West Leeds Dispatch)

🏃 Let's Move South Leeds - this Saturday, Cross Flatts Park, 12–3pm - Free community sports and activity event for all ages. Tennis, rugby, football, cycling, martial arts, dance, arts and more. Plus a 1km family fun run and free food. (Source: South Leeds Life)

🚆 TRANSPORT

⚠️ TPU rail disruption continues - check before travelling - Transpennine Route Upgrade works continue until 25 May (weekdays via Wakefield, no trains at Huddersfield at weekends). Phase 2 targets Batley and Dewsbury from 30 May–27 June. Check at nationalrail.co.uk.

🏃 Rob Burrow Marathon Sunday - road closures from 4am, last chance to book Park & Ride - 13,000+ runners, 26.2 miles from Headingley Stadium. Road closures from 4am Sunday 10 May. Book Park & Ride in advance at runforall.com. Marathon weather looks excellent — 10°C, only 10% rain chance.