Councillor Chaman Lal, of Indian descent, was elected Birmingham’s first citizen by the West Midlands City Council in England. Crowning him the city’s first Indian-origin Lord Mayor. According to Birmingham’s official government website, he was appointed to this role on May 23 during an annual Mayor-making event. Furthermore, he would be taking over for Councillor Maureen Cornish.
Continue reading to learn more about him.
Mayor Lal
Mayor Lal is a renowned Labour Party member and also a prominent member of the Ravidassia Sikh community in Britain. He had been a councilor for Soho and the Jewellery Quarter for 29 years prior to taking the coveted job during an event naming the mayor at the Birmingham city council office in Victoria Square, according to the Birmingham Mail.
Birmingham has a new Lord Mayor – Cllr Chaman Lal. Delighted to pray for him and the Mayoress this evening as part of the mayor-making celebrations, and also thank retiring Lord Mayor, Cllr Maureen Cornish and her consort, for their wonderful work over the last extraordinary year pic.twitter.com/l5BKqRSepc
— Anne Hollinghurst (@BishopAnneH) May 23, 2023
Mayor Lal’s Reaction
Mayor Lal called it a “very proud moment” in an address to council members and noteworthy visitors. “It is a very proud moment for me and our family, as a son of an army officer born in India but made in Birmingham. I am an adopted Brummie, and I never thought that one day I would become the lord mayor of my adopted city. I would like to thank my fellow councilors for electing me as their first citizen and of our great city, which happens to be the highest civic role entrusted to a serving councilor.”
Chaman Lal Expresses Gratitude
He conveyed his appreciation to his wife, Vidya Wati, who would serve as Lady Mayoress. “As the saying goes, behind every successful man is a great woman, which happens to be true in my life, as I couldn’t have made this achievement without the support of some significant women in my life.”`
Lal also said, thanking Labour Councilor Sybil Spence, “Sybil helped me enter politics in 1994. She is my little godmother, but sometimes she can cause a bit of embarrassment to me when she tells people that I am one of her sons out of wedlock. I know she means this in a loving way.” He adds, “I want to be known not as lord mayor of Birmingham, but lord mayor for all the people of Birmingham. I look forward to your support for the charity and promoting our great city to make it even greater”.
About Chaman Lal
Chaman Lal is a Labour Party politician from the Ravidassia community of British Sikhs. He was born in the Hoshiarpur hamlet of Pakhowal. He was initially elected in 1994 and was also re-elected in the most recent local elections as Councillor for the Soho and Jewellery Quarter Ward. Sardar Harnam Singh Banga’s father was a British Indian army officer who fought in the Italian War during WWII. He and his mother, Sardarni Jai Kaur, moved to England in 1964 and have since settled in Birmingham. He attended Wattville Secondary Modern School and completed his education at Sandwell and Matthew Boulton Colleges in the evenings.
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