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Faruk Choudhury to be Bristol’s first Muslim Lord Mayor

Cllr Choudhury will be one of the youngest Lord Mayors of modern times and said he wants to encourage more people to give blood

By Christopher Brown
Monday January 14, 2013

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Cllr Faruk Choudhury

Labour councillor Faruk Choudhury is set to become Bristol’s first Muslim Lord Mayor, after receiving backing from all parties at the city council.
Mr Choudhury, 38 and originally from Bangladesh, has been a councillor in Easton in 2007, and will take over from Cllr Peter Main in May.
He is married to Shilpi who will be the Lady Mayoress. They have three children – a boy, Ishaac 10, and two girls, Sanyia (five) and Nusaybah (three).
A “jubilant” Cllr Choudhury will be one of the youngest Lord Mayors of modern times and said he wants to encourage more people to give blood during his time in office.
“I am jubilant. This is a monumental honour for me and my family and even more so for Bristol’s Asian community and all BME communities in the city. I will do everything I can to promote this great city for all people in the coming year,” he said.
“My personal cause is Britain’s shortage of transplant organs and some blood groups especially within BME populations. Many people die unnecessarily each year as a result of donor deficiency. As Lord Mayor and with my wife, Shilpi, we will work across many organisations encouraging ‘give blood’ sessions especially within BME communities to encourage being an organ donor as well as a blood donor.”
Hours after Cllr Choudhury was nominated to be Bristol’s Lord Mayor, a Knowle woman with 20 years of experience as a magistrate will be Bristol’s next High Sheriff.
Dr Shaheen Chaudhry was nominated at a ceremony held at London’s ancient Royal Courts of Justice.
Believed to be the first High Sheriff from the south of the city in recent times, she will take office in March, following current incumbent Andrew Nisbet.
Born in Pakistan, Dr Chaudhry went to Knowle Junior School, The Red Maids and studied at Bristol University. A doctor of social policy and politics, the 55-year-old is also a lay member on mental health tribunals across the South West and used to be a non-executive member of the North Bristol NHS Trust board.
Dr Chaudhry founded the organisation now called Health Links to improve access to healthcare for people whose first language is not English, and was a director for 16 years.