As leader of Peterborough City Council, John Peach has a high profile position on
the city and a record of electoral success.
What he describes as his ‘claim to fame’, however, has nothing to do with politics
(although it did involve voting).
He says: “Almost 20 years ago I was a member of the UK jury for the Eurovision Song
Contest. That’s probably as close as I’ll come to international fame.”
He does have other international credentials, though, having travelled extensively
throughout Europe and much of Asia and North America.
He brings his political experience to his work on our board – work which he sees
as having a strong link to his role at the Town Hall.
John says: “Peterborough has embraced the growth agenda – but we want to grow in
the right way. We need quality jobs and quality homes, for example. It is not just
about quantity. It is about quality.
“The council and Opportunity Peterborough are working together to make sure that
we get this right.”
Peterborough ‘born and bred’, John’s first job was in promotions and marketing for
the local newspaper. His career then took him into similar work for national newspapers
and magazines before he set up his own company (which he stills runs today) to develop
and rent property.
He was elected to the city council's Park Ward in May 1997 when Peterborough was
awarded unitary authority status and previously represented Park Ward on Cambridgeshire
County Council for nine years. He became deputy leader of the city council in 2003
and was elected as council leader in April 2006.
He is also the council cabinet member with responsibility for finance and human
resources and a governor of Peterborough Regional College - where years ago he was
a student.