Keith Whitmore

Keith Arthur Whitmore (born 15 June 1955) is a former British politician. He was a Liberal and later Liberal Democrat member of Manchester City Council for more than thirty years, retiring in 2012, and was also a member of the European Committee of the Regions and the Congress of the Council of Europe, of which he was President from 2010 to 2012.

He now chairs the Greater Manchester Transport Heritage Partnership and is active in other bodies with a similar focus.

Early life Keith Whitmore was born in 1955 in Manchester,

Manchester political career Whitmore was first elected to Manchester City Council in May 1979 and remained a member until May 2012, From 1988 to 1997 he was leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Manchester City Council. The Authority was merged into the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in 2011.

In December 2011 Whitmore was reported to be disillusioned with the Liberal Democrats, and he did not stand for re-election at the 2012 Manchester City Council election, at which his party lost all the seats it was defending.

Council of Europe In 1996, Whitmore was appointed as a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg.

In 2012, Whitmore was awarded the Emperor-Maximilian-Prize for European Service, which he received at the Hofburg in Innsbruck, Austria, on 2 June 2012. A speech to explain the award was made by Herwig van Staa. He remained in this position in 2015. Since 2012, he has chaired the Greater Manchester Transport Heritage Partnership.

Whitmore has also been a director of the Manchester Tramway Company Ltd since 1990, of the Royal Exchange Theatre Company Ltd since 1995, of the People's History Museum (formerly the National Museum of Labour History, Manchester), since 2002, and of the Bahamas Locomotive Society of Wakefield since 2012. In 2018, he became chairman of the Bahamas Locomotive Society. In 2020, he was vice-president of the East Lancashire Railway.