Two New Yorkshire Peers

Five new Liberal Democrat members of the House of Lords have been announced today, including two from Yorkshire.

One is our current Regional Chair Hannah Kitching, a former NHS physiotherapist, Mayor of Penistone, and former Leader of the Opposition on Barnsley Council.

The other is Dave McCobb, the Liberal Democrat Director of Campaigns who masterminded the party’s best ever election results in 2024, and a former Hull City Councillor

Also joining them as new Lib Dem peers are:

• Julia Aglionby, Executive Director of the Foundation for Common Land, Professor of Practice at the University of Cumbria, and agricultural valuer
• Tim Leunig, Chief Economist at Nesta, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Government, Director of Economics at Public First, and former senior civil servant
• Mark Petterson, entrepreneur and pioneer in offshore wind

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey MP commented, “I am absolutely delighted that Julia, Hannah, Tim, Dave and Mark will be joining our brilliant Liberal Democrat team in the House of Lords.

"Each of them has the right skills, experience and values to help us hold the government to account, deliver the change people need, and fix our broken politics, including reforming the House of Lords.”

More about them:

Hannah is a former NHS physiotherapist who joined the Liberal Democrats soon after the Brexit vote in 2016. When she won election to Barnsley Council in 2018, Hannah was the only Liberal Democrat on the council. She built up our group to 12 councillors and became the Leader of the Opposition to a Labour administration.

As a Councillor, Hannah focused on youth and family issues, including serving as a school governor and chairing the Early Help Delivery Group. She stood down from Barnsley Council this year, but is still Mayor of Penistone and a Penistone Town Councillor.

Hannah is Chair of Yorkshire Liberal Democrats and Vice Chair of the English Party. She is also a member of the Federal Board and the Federal Conference Committee, all with a focus on driving progress and electoral success. She stood for the Liberal Democrats in the 2024 South Yorkshire mayoral election.

Dave has been described as the “mastermind” behind the strategy that secured 72 seats for the Liberal Democrats at the last general election – the best result in the party’s history. He has also overseen the party’s longest ever winning streak in local elections, with eight consecutive rounds of net gains.

Dave has extensive personal experience in local government, serving as a Liberal Democrat Councillor on Hull City Council for 24 years before stepping down this year. He helped the party win majority control of the council in 2007 and again in 2022.

Dave started working for the party in 2004 and took over as Director of Field Campaigns in 2020. The party’s review of the 2024 election campaign identified Dave as part of the “small, tightly-bound team” that was “the single biggest contributor to the Liberal Democrats’ success”. He will continue as the party’s Campaigns and Elections Director.