Leslie Kerwin

My name is Leslie Kerwin, I’m a third-year Multimedia Journalism student based in Manchester, currently working as a freelance journalist.

I speak Spanish, and am currently learning Teeline shorthand.

The Northern Quota



Fresh off the back of an illustration and graphic design course, I began as a volunteer reporter at my university news website - The Northern Quota - after tumbling into an undiscovered love for journalism. My first stories saw me running between local crime and politics, and it was my early series on young deaths in police pursuits that cemented a passion for the courtroom. 

A year later, I was lucky enough to begin work as the website's student editor. While balancing new reporters, new stories, and a new class schedule to boot, I was proud to see the website views skyrocket like never before with the introduction of The Northern Quota newsletter on Substack - and even prouder to help design our first-ever special print edition by early summer. Below is a full archive of my work, and beneath that, a flipping book of The Northern Quota print edition.

The Northern Quota •

DJ Paulette: From the living room to Europe and back

From the minute she could stand, Paulette Constable knew her place was above the crowds. As a little girl, she spent her days on her miniature typewriter writing weekly zines into the backs of cornflake boxes – and spent her evenings on the stage, performing for her seven sisters on the little step in the living room. “And I’d fall off the step and my sisters would laugh at me and I’d look at them and go, ‘you’ll pay to come and see me one day’.”


Now 58, DJ Paulette couldn’t have been truer t...
The Northern Quota •

Man Met journalism student hosts BBC radio show about taking the night bus around Manchester

A Man Met journalism student is featuring on his own podcast episode on BBC Radio 4 about his journeys on Manchester’s night buses.


Speaking exclusively to NQ, student Ian Burke shared his journey to becoming the latest voice of Radio 4’s Illuminated, where he celebrates Manchester’s night buses in a trip across the city.


“It’s like an experimental documentary, there’s all sorts of weird and wonderful things on there,” he said.


For his podcast, Ian travels on Manchester’s V1 bus from Ox...
The Northern Quota •

David Conn calls for ‘duty of candour’ on officials ahead of Hillsborough Law

Reporter of the year David Conn has called for a ‘duty of candour’ to be placed on police as campaigners call for a Hillsborough law to be introduced within the year.


Conn was joined by legal experts from Garden Court North Chambers at a memorial lecture in the University of Manchester on Thursday, honouring of Hillsborough barrister Mark George, who represented 22 families following the disaster.


The lecture discussed failures in the legal system in the years after the disaster. Named the...
The Northern Quota •

Gary Younge: 'Racism is a language of many dialects'

“I came into journalism through language, because I studied to be an interpreter and a translator. It was in the process of knowing how to translate that I fell in love with language, and the ability to manipulate it, to work it, knead it, and make it do what I wanted it to do.”


The Whitworth Gallery’s Grand Hall was packed on Thursday night as over a hundred people attended to commemorate Dr. Sook-Kyung Lee’s appointment as Professor of Curatorial Practices at the University of Manchester. I...
The Northern Quota •

Modern slavery 'major cause for concern' in construction and care industries

Instances of modern-day slavery have been ‘on the rise’ within the construction and care industries in Manchester, with the Deputy Mayor also outlining concern for young charity workers, a conference heard.


The conference, held on world Anti-Slavery Day (18 October) in Manchester’s HOME Gallery, saw deputy mayor Kate Green joined by various experts to discuss Greater Manchester’s response to instances of modern-day slavery.


Speaking at the panel, Angela Hughes – governance manager at Speed...
The Northern Quota •

Deputy city council leader ousted by Workers’ Party in Longsight

Labour’s Luthfur Rahman, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, has lost his council seat to Workers’ Party of Britain candidate Shabas Sarwar after he won 2,444 votes – beating Labour by 185.


It comes after the WPB took control of a further two seats in Rochdale following the 2024 local elections.


Following the election outcome, Councillor Sarwar said he was ‘proud’ of his achievement as someone “new to the political arena” and that he believed the vote had been decided by his party’s...
The Northern Quota •

17-year-old passenger in speeding car chased by police was 'unlawfully killed', inquest determines

The death of a 17-year-old passenger who was driven through a red light while being pursued by police has been ruled an unlawful killing, an inquest has determined.


Ronaldo Johnson, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died as a result of head and chest injuries six days after the crash, after being placed in a coma.


The driver of the car, Elliot Martin, has already pleaded guilty to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and sentenced to six years in prison. He was invited to at...
The Northern Quota •

Sunak promises shorter NHS waiting times moments after Brianna Ghey trans jibe – but in Manchester it’s trans people who have to wait longest

Sunak’s promises came moments after making a transphobic comment while Brianna Ghey’s mother attended the Commons during PMQs.


Rishi Sunak attracted widespread condemnation for his refusal to apologise after making a transphobic comment in the House of Commons on Wednesday (7 February) – on the same day the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey attended Parliament.


He also admitted his failure to bring down NHS waiting lists during his time as Prime Minister and promised to commit...

The Northern Quota newsletter

The Northern Quota newsletter •

Hello and goodbye!

Hello, and goodbye from The Northern Quota newsletter! It’s Leslie again, here with a special end-of-term edition of the NQ newsletter - and what a pleasure it’s been the whole way! Thank you to everyone who’s joined us so far, both in the newsroom and on the other side of the newsletters. It truly has been so much fun, and we’ll be looking forward to coming back to life again after the summer. We’ll be back for October, with perhaps the odd sprinkle in between. In the meantime, we can all sit ba...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

Students call for bleed control training in Greater Manchester

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Leslie here, and gosh - what a week! Between interviewing, emailing, fighting InDesign, and the general bouncing around between here there and everywhere, it always feels like a treat to come back to the newsletter. On Monday, I got the chance to chat to Man Met’s third years about the ins and outs of The Northern Quota for their projects (and if any of you are reading this, a big hello to you!). It’s hard to understate how exciting it can be t...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

‘It was my mum that got me into storytelling’: Man Met’s Iris Skipworth on winning a Guinness World Record

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Leslie here, hoping you’re all doing well as ever - and what a fortnight it’s been! Between interviews, events, and finishing up our upcoming print edition, it’s a shock to see the end of semester looming over the horizon. The sun coming out more often should have been a warning sign - now all of a sudden, summer seems to be right around the corner! Time to stock up on the factor 50. As always, thank you for checking in to The Northern Quota ne...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

Rusholme councillor shares vision for ‘strong and united’ Manchester

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Who could it be? Leslie again! Hope you’re all doing well. I’ll be honest, I’ve not got a clue what to ramble about this time, everything has been such a blur of activity in the newsroom. We’ve been working hard on the big, shiny new print edition coming this April, but since we have to keep the details a surprise for now, what else is there for me to yap about here? The weather? The sport? The four kilos of Greek yoghurt I’ve got in the fridge...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

Told to ‘get on with it’: study reveals women with endometriosis experience lower earnings and irregular employment

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Leslie here, wishing you all a lovely day. Spring has finally sprung, at long last - now’s the time of sunshine, flowers, and new beginnings, though it’s still the same full steam ahead in the newsroom as usual. Yesterday we were joined by The Mirror’s very own Julia Banim, who gave some incredible insight and advice on her journalism career as an audience writer across both print and the web. No two days as a journalist are ever the same, it s...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

New homeless camp emerges following the removal of tents from St. Peter’s Square by council bailiffs

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Leslie again, surprise surprise, and talk about a hectic week! Between the constant stream of new articles being written, the onslaught of emails to sift through, and running between what feels like every nook and cranny of Manchester, it can sometimes be difficult for all of us to remember to take a break somewhere in there, too. I’ve been trying to get back into reading lately, myself: Marianna Spring’s Conspiracyland left me with a lot to mu...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

David Conn calls for ‘duty of candour’ for officials ahead of Hillsborough Law

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. It’s Leslie here, back in the newsroom again - even though it’s not a newsday! This week, the Multimedia Journalism department invited the BBC’s Robin Grey into the office to give his advice to students wanting to get into broadcasting. It’s always exciting to have visitors, though maybe going along myself might be better after I learn to get a tripod even. I’m sure it will happen one day - for now, I’m probably better off sticking with a keybo...
The Northern Quota newsletter •

Almost Famous staff turn to union action

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter. Leslie here, happy to welcome you to another edition of the NQ newsletter. After our second week in the newsroom, it’s nice to be getting back into the swing of things again. It’s too late to still be feeling the New Year’s slump, and too early for the academic panic to set in at the end of term, but just the right time to be going out story-hunting while things get back to normal. As always, thank you for checking in to The Northern Quota news...

All articles

The Northern Quota •

City in shock as Manchester Pride goes into voluntary administration

Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community has been left stunned after the charity behind Manchester Pride announced they have gone into administration.


The news come after dozens of artists revealed they are allegedly owed thousands in unpaid invoices by Manchester Pride Ltd following the August Bank Holiday event.


Organisers have cited rising costs and declining ticket sales as major factors in the decision to go into voluntary liquidation, and said details of suppliers and artists who are awaiting p...
The Northern Quota •

DJ Paulette: From the living room to Europe and back

From the minute she could stand, Paulette Constable knew her place was above the crowds. As a little girl, she spent her days on her miniature typewriter writing weekly zines into the backs of cornflake boxes – and spent her evenings on the stage, performing for her seven sisters on the little step in the living room. “And I’d fall off the step and my sisters would laugh at me and I’d look at them and go, ‘you’ll pay to come and see me one day’.”


Now 58, DJ Paulette couldn’t have been truer t...
The Northern Quota •

Ricky Hatton funeral service - live updates

Thousands have descended upon the streets of Manchester this morning to pay their respects following the death of boxing legend Ricky Hatton MBE.


Also nicknamed ‘The Hitman’ and ‘The Pride of Hyde’, the ex-world champion was found dead at his Gee Cross home on September 14 following a lifelong battle with depression. He was 46 years old.


Hatton had previously won titles at both light-welterweight and welterweight level, and was due to mark a comeback to the ring against middleweight Eisa A...
The Northern Quota •

Block the Block protest ahead of latest court battle over student accommodation

Members of Hulme campaign group Block the Block protested outside Manchester Civil Justice Centre on Monday ahead of their latest legal battle against the city council and proposals for a nine-storey student accommodation.


The campaign – first launched in 2020 – aims to overturn a council decision to build student accommodation on an abandoned site once home to the Gamecock pub.


Campaigners from Block the Block say the development will drive up house prices and drive out residents, and tha...
The Northern Quota •

Man Met journalism student hosts BBC radio show about taking the night bus around Manchester

A Man Met journalism student is featuring on his own podcast episode on BBC Radio 4 about his journeys on Manchester’s night buses.


Speaking exclusively to NQ, student Ian Burke shared his journey to becoming the latest voice of Radio 4’s Illuminated, where he celebrates Manchester’s night buses in a trip across the city.


“It’s like an experimental documentary, there’s all sorts of weird and wonderful things on there,” he said.


For his podcast, Ian travels on Manchester’s V1 bus from Ox...
The Northern Quota •

David Conn calls for ‘duty of candour’ on officials ahead of Hillsborough Law

Reporter of the year David Conn has called for a ‘duty of candour’ to be placed on police as campaigners call for a Hillsborough law to be introduced within the year.


Conn was joined by legal experts from Garden Court North Chambers at a memorial lecture in the University of Manchester on Thursday, honouring of Hillsborough barrister Mark George, who represented 22 families following the disaster.


The lecture discussed failures in the legal system in the years after the disaster. Named the...
The Northern Quota •

Hip Hop Chip Shop announces sudden closure citing energy costs and increase in VAT

Ancoats’ award-winning Hip Hop Chip Shop has announced it will be closing via a social media post made on Thursday night (6 February).


The announcement came as owners cited rising energy and VAT costs, as well as post-Covid and Brexit cost increases, as the final straw for the shop’s closure, after 11 years in operation.


The Hip Hop Chip Shop has confirmed it will be officially closing its doors on 2 March, with its sister outlets in Whalley Range, New Century, and the Etihad Stadium facin...
The Northern Quota •

Gary Younge: 'Racism is a language of many dialects'

“I came into journalism through language, because I studied to be an interpreter and a translator. It was in the process of knowing how to translate that I fell in love with language, and the ability to manipulate it, to work it, knead it, and make it do what I wanted it to do.”


The Whitworth Gallery’s Grand Hall was packed on Thursday night as over a hundred people attended to commemorate Dr. Sook-Kyung Lee’s appointment as Professor of Curatorial Practices at the University of Manchester. I...
The Northern Quota •

Jamie Laing: 'My brain was all over the place'

Radio One’s Jamie Laing talked about ADHD, mental health, and Comic Relief in a panel discussion held at Man Met on Monday (20 January).


The event was the first of January’s Future Me Week line-up, which aims to give students opportunities to expand their skills and experience outside of the classroom through workshops and talks. He was followed in the panel by Sky Sports’ Miriam Walker-Khan and GB Paralympian Gregg Stevenson, who gave their own insight to their careers and life experience....
The Northern Quota •

Man Met hosts GB Paralympian and Sky Sports reporter for Future Me Week

Sky Sports’ Miriam Walker-Khan and GB Paralympic rower Gregg Stevenson opened up about their lives and careers for ManMet’s Future Me Week on Monday (20 January).


The pair spoke in a panel discussion on the first day of January’s Future Me Week lineup, which aims to give students opportunities to expand their skills and experience outside of the classroom through workshops and talks.


They followed on from BBC Radio One’s Jamie Laing, who talked about his own experiences on Made in Chelsea...
The Northern Quota •

Lights Up launches Levenshulme exhibition

An art exhibition empowering Manchester’s female cyclists has been launched in Levenshulme’s Station South following the success of November’s Lights Up night-time bike ride.


The exhibition was created as part of the Lights Up cycling campaign created by Manchester’s Cycling Mayor Belinda Everett, which aims to challenge the underrepresentation of female cyclists and raise awareness of the issues they face day-to-day.


On 9 November, crowds of women and allies gathered at All Saints Park to...
The Northern Quota •

NQ's Student Radar launches special student housing edition

As November rolls in and eyes start turning to the estate agent window, NQ’s Student Radar podcast has launched a special edition to look at the state of student housing in Manchester and the North West.


The project was Student Radar’s biggest-yet, with six journalists reporting from ManMet’s Student Union offices, Cambridge Halls accommodation, and live from two studios in the university’s Grosvenor East building.


The twenty-minute special saw Student Radar interviewing students from acro...
The Northern Quota •

Modern slavery 'major cause for concern' in construction and care industries

Instances of modern-day slavery have been ‘on the rise’ within the construction and care industries in Manchester, with the Deputy Mayor also outlining concern for young charity workers, a conference heard.


The conference, held on world Anti-Slavery Day (18 October) in Manchester’s HOME Gallery, saw deputy mayor Kate Green joined by various experts to discuss Greater Manchester’s response to instances of modern-day slavery.


Speaking at the panel, Angela Hughes – governance manager at Speed...
The Northern Quota •

Deputy city council leader ousted by Workers’ Party in Longsight

Labour’s Luthfur Rahman, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, has lost his council seat to Workers’ Party of Britain candidate Shabas Sarwar after he won 2,444 votes – beating Labour by 185.


It comes after the WPB took control of a further two seats in Rochdale following the 2024 local elections.


Following the election outcome, Councillor Sarwar said he was ‘proud’ of his achievement as someone “new to the political arena” and that he believed the vote had been decided by his party’s...
The Northern Quota •

Mayoral elections: Greater Manchester candidates agree ‘a set of standards’ should be placed on student accommodation after election

Current Labour mayor Andy Burnham and the Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin have confirmed student accommodation would be included on the Good Landlord Charter if they are elected in the upcoming mayoral election.


The proposed Good Landlord Charter would put more responsibility on landlords to provide good-quality housing conditions for tenants. It would also give tenants the right to request a property check if they believe their housing conditions to be unsafe.


The promises came in the late...
The Northern Quota •

Devonte's legacy will be 'to prevent future deaths', say family

Devonte Scott, who died following a pursuit by police in 2021, has been described by his family as “an amazing young boy” who was “well-respected in the community”.


The tribute to Devonte came at a vigil held to remember those who died in circumstances involving police pursuits.


Devonte was 18 when he told his girlfriend, Morgan Masters, that he was “nipping out for an hour” in May 2021. Half-an-hour later, she received a phone call to say he had been involved in a car accident.


An inqu...
The Northern Quota •

Family of teenager who died following police pursuit join others in mourning at vigil

Brandon Geasley was just 18 when he died following a police pursuit involving GMP police.


He died after he smashed into an oncoming car while driving the wrong way down the M60 in May 2021.


The car had been reported stolen earlier that day from Bramhall, although at the inquest following Brandon’s death the coroner determined he was not responsible for the theft.


Officers had initially been dispatched to search for the vehicle and found Brandon on Altrincham Road, at which point he drov...
The Northern Quota •

17-year-old passenger in speeding car chased by police was 'unlawfully killed', inquest determines

The death of a 17-year-old passenger who was driven through a red light while being pursued by police has been ruled an unlawful killing, an inquest has determined.


Ronaldo Johnson, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died as a result of head and chest injuries six days after the crash, after being placed in a coma.


The driver of the car, Elliot Martin, has already pleaded guilty to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving and sentenced to six years in prison. He was invited to at...
The Northern Quota •

Sunak promises shorter NHS waiting times moments after Brianna Ghey trans jibe – but in Manchester it’s trans people who have to wait longest

Sunak’s promises came moments after making a transphobic comment while Brianna Ghey’s mother attended the Commons during PMQs.


Rishi Sunak attracted widespread condemnation for his refusal to apologise after making a transphobic comment in the House of Commons on Wednesday (7 February) – on the same day the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey attended Parliament.


He also admitted his failure to bring down NHS waiting lists during his time as Prime Minister and promised to commit...
The Northern Quota •

Police investigation into rape next to Mancunian Way

Reports of a rape next to the Mancunian Way underpass in the early hours of this morning have intensified concerns over safety in the city centre.


The incident follows a stark warning issued by Man Met University to staff and students after reports of several attacks over the last six weeks.


Police were called to the scene in the early hours of this morning (January 31) following reports of a rape near Hoyle Street, between the city centre and Ardwick.


A section of woodland and pavemen...

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