THERE was a changing of the chain yesterday as Coun Jaswant Singh Birdi succeeded Coun Kevin Maton as Coventry’s Lord Mayor.
Coun Birdi, who has spent the last year serving as Deputy Lord Mayor, was presented with the Chains of Office at the council’s Annual General Meeting at Coventry Cathedral.
A devout Sikh, Coun Birdi also becomes the city’s first Lord Mayor to wear a turban, and he said he hopes this historic moment will show Coventry as a happy multicultural city as well as inspire others.
Coun Mal Mutton has been named as the Deputy Lord Mayor for the coming year and Coun Birdi’s wife Krishna has become Lady Mayoress.
Coun Birdi has been a city councillor for 16 years, starting with two terms of office representing the Hillfields Ward in the 1990s before serving as Bablake’s councillor for the past nine years.
Born in a village in the Panjab in the North of India, Coun Birdi spent some time as a child in Lahore in Pakistan, and Calcutta in West Bengal, as his family travelled for employment.
He emigrated to Kenya with his parents in the mid-1950s before coming to the UK in the 60s to continue his further education.
As well as his work as a councillor, Coun Birdi has been actively involved in setting up religious, social, and community projects in the city.
He said: “I am so proud to become Lord Mayor of my adopted home city.
“It has given so much to myself and my family over the years and I will be honoured to show why I love it so much and to promote the city and the wonderful people who live here.
“As a Sikh, it also means so much that I will be wearing the Chains of Office and the turban.”
Coun Birdi’s Lord Mayor’s charities are the Muscular Dystrophy charity, the Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind, and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Charity.
Visit www.coventry.gov.uk/donate to donate to the chosen charities or send a cheque payable to ‘Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal’ to The Lord Mayor’s Office at the council house.
