Diane Leek

Diane Leek was a Liberal Democrat member of Sheffield City Council in Sheffield, England from 1992 to 2012. She was the 107th Lord Mayor of Sheffield, serving for the customary one year in 2003-04. She was preceded by Marjorie Barker and succeeded by Mike Pye.

Early life
Diane Wainwright Leek was born in Jessop's Hospital, Sheffield, in 1954 to parents from Bolsterstone and Ewden Valley who, after living in various locations around the city, settled in Totley. Leek moved to Walkley in 1980, where she continues to reside.

She first attended Totley County Primary School and then Abbeydale Secondary Modern, a school with which she is very proud to be associated, and which later merged with King Ecgbert Girls Grammar to become Abbeydale Grange School.

Leek was a Sunday School teacher for four years at Totley Methodist Church and a Lieutenant in the Junior Section of the 22nd Totley Rise Boy's Brigade for six years.

In 1976 she married Robert and they have one daughter and one son, Louise and Christopher, and four grandchildren, Bradley, Kyle, Jack and Taylor Louise

Having an interest in education and the local community, Leek became a Governor at Walkley Infant and Junior School, a school that her children attended. She held the post for eight years from 1984.

Two by-elections
Leek became involved in politics in 1992 when she assisted with the campaign to re-instate the School Clothing Grant. She was elected to serve on Sheffield City Council in the November 1992 by-election, but the election had to be re-run in January 1993. Although working for an outsourced contractor as a dinner lady, and having been assured that she was not a City Council employee, it was ruled that she was an employee, and the election was declared void. After resigning her job, Leek won the re-run election increasing her majority sixfold from 184 to 1092