Yes we tram?

Perhaps it was a bad idea to host an event discussing the city’s frustrated tram dreams in a bar at 6pm, giving attendees little time to line their stomachs before the craft beer started flowing. Perhaps it’s the testosterone-fuelled atmosphere – looking around the flannel-shirted audience, I count 31 men, zero women. Or perhaps the crowd of young professionals here tonight just needed a moment of catharsis, a therapeutic moment to rage against their powerlessness in the face of what they see as a distant and indifferent national government.

Whatever the case, Yes We Tram is about to get heated. 

The event (originally titled “Build the F***ing Tram”) is being hosted by the local branch of Looking for Growth (LFG), a political movement aiming to “break Britain out of stagnation”. Last October, a New Statesman article attempting to locate LFG on the political spectrum deemed them “unconventional libertarians”, also revealing that the gender split here tonight is pretty typical. “The apparent male-dominance of LFG has led some more vicious observers to dub it ‘looking for girlfriend’,” the article notes.

That pronouncement was based on observations of the chapter in London. Tonight’s event — advertised using a psychedelic AI graphic of owls, a Yorkshire rose, and a tram with the destination ‘Ey Up’ — is all about Leeds. Kicking off proceedings is a talk from Edmond Daramy-Williams, the leader of LFG’s Leeds chapter and the unsuccessful Conservative candidate for Armley in the most recent local election. He’s eager to talk us through his vision for the tram. 

It starts simply enough. What Edmond wants to see is “anywhere to anywhere, with maximum one change” – a dream that would require a pretty heroic leap forward from the current dismal state of West Yorkshire’s public transport. But, by the end of his presentation on possible routes and vehicles, he is switching from one idea to the next at an incredible clip. “What if you went for Double Decker Multiple Unit Trams?” he asks the crowd. “Could you run AC trams and DC trains?” Every time I get my phone out to snap a photo of a slide, the presentation has already moved on. I’ve only had a single pint, but my head is spinning.

It’s obvious that Edmond is a member of the generation raised on the internet. Aside from the way his frenetic pace resembles the ever-changing stream of the TikTok algorithm, he’s also fluent in the language of online spaces. When I look at my notes later, I see that I’ve copied down the phrase “Britmaxxed GOAT ukay metro” from one of his slides.

Still, at least he’s talking about practical details. As the event progresses, however, the focus shifts in an angrier direction. Debate over what the tram should look like and where it should go are replaced by another, darker question — one that many people in the city region are now asking.

Who is to blame?

“If you say the words ‘Leeds tram’, you’ll be taken out into the car park and shot”