Hounslow Borough Elects Its First Muslim Mayor
Councillor Nisar Malik promises to work to reduce religious tensions
Councillor Nisar Malik, ward member for Hounslow Central, has been elected Mayor of the London Borough of Hounslow for the municipal year 2015/16. He is the borough's first Muslim mayor and replaces Cllr Corinna Smart, who takes up a position on the cabinet for corporate performance and customer care.
Cllr Malik has been a councillor for 11 years (2000-2010 and 2014 to date). His ambitions are to bring communities together and engage with people young and old. He wants Hounslow to be a “beacon borough” for community cohesion and he promised to work to reduce religious tensions.
Nisar Malik, who runs fifteen halal counters at Asda supermarkets, arrived to London from Pakistan as a teenager in 1976 and worked his way up to running an import/export company, before opening a halal butcher's, near Hounslow. He then pursuaded Asda supermarkets to let him open a halal counter and now runs fifteen counters employing 130 people.
He said he wanted to help address religious tensions by bringing together people from all backgrounds.
Councillor Myra Savin, ward member for Brentford, is the new Deputy Mayor.The appointments were made at the annual meeting of the council on Tuesday, 26 May.
The new Mayor has chosen two charities that he will support and help raise much-needed funds for over the coming year. The first is Hounslow Toy Library, where children with disabilities or their parents/carers can borrow toys to take home. www.hounslowtoylibrary.co.uk
The second is Contact the Elderly, which reaches out to people who live alone and cannot get out on their own. It does so by arranging monthly tea parties. www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk
Cllr Savin, a retired NHS manager, has been a councillor since 2014.Also announced at the annual meeting was the cabinet make-up for 2015/16.
There are three new members: Cllr Katherine Dunne (housing, equalities and inclusion), Cllr Ed Mayne (public health and leisure) and Cllr Corinna Smart (corporate performance and customer care).
The appointments were made by the leader of the council, Cllr Steve Curran, who thanked the outgoing members of the cabinet Cllrs Bath, Grewal and Gupta for their “hard work and support” and said the authority will not stop in its mission to deliver better services for residents.
Further appointments to other committees and formal bodies were also announced.
A full list is here.
May 28, 2015