Keith Ivor Wakefield OBE (formerly Sturgess; born 27 July 1948) is a British Labour politician and twice Leader of Leeds City Council from 2003 to 2004 and 2010 to 2015.
[8][9] Wakefield, then named Keith Sturgess, was first elected to Leeds City Council to represent the Barwick and Kippax ward in 1988.
He had changed his surname to Wakefield when he ran for re-election in 1992 and served as a councillor for the ward for a total of 16 years.
Subsequently, with the loss of the Labour majority, Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors agreed a formal coalition to run the council.
[15][16] Wakefield's second term as Council Leader included introducing and implementing multi-million pound council spending cuts resulting from the UK government's austerity programme, the construction of the First Direct Arena, and the selection of Leeds as the host city for the opening ceremony and Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France.
For his final year as a councillor, Wakefield held a junior position in the council administration as Deputy Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health & Training and Skills.