JALANDHAR: Local lad Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, 32, is set to become the youngest Sikh mayor in UK after he was unanimously elected by majority Labour councillors in Gravesham council in the south-east county of Kent. He would be sworn in on May 17.
The election to the 44 seats of the council being governed by Conservatives, was held on May 5 and the results were declared on May 6. Labour got 25 seats while Conservatives trailed with 19. The Labour party councillors held a meeting on May 7 and unanimously elected Dhesi as mayor. He was declared mayoral candidate by the Labour party even before the election.
This is also the first time that there have been five councillors of Punjabi origin elected from Gravesham. Others elected are Narinderjit Singh Thandi (Northfleet south ward), Makhan Singh (Pelham ward), Balbir Singh Sangha (Pelham ward) and Gurdeep Bungar (central ward).
Gravesham council was one of the highly contested councils in the south-east this year. It witnessed campaigning by both the Prime Minister and David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, and Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition and the Labour party. Gravesham falls within the Conservative heartlands in the south-east. Ed Miliband even joined the victory celebration on May 6 and said wresting the council from the Conservatives was a good sign for them. This is the only local council in Kent under the control of the Labour party.
Tanmanjeet, born and brought up in the UK, has family roots in village Raipur of Jalandhar. He studied in three of the most prestigious universities in the country including Cambridge and Oxford. He studied mathematics with management studies at University College London, before studying applied statistics at Keble College, Oxford University. He then went on to explore the history and politics of south Asia while studying for his MPhil at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.
After he completed his studies, he joined the Labour party and was elected as councillor from the Northfleet North ward in Gravesham in 2007, from where he has been elected again. He was unanimously elected as chairman of the Gravesham constituency Labour party for the last two years running.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...531832_1_labour-party-ed-miliband-councillors
The election to the 44 seats of the council being governed by Conservatives, was held on May 5 and the results were declared on May 6. Labour got 25 seats while Conservatives trailed with 19. The Labour party councillors held a meeting on May 7 and unanimously elected Dhesi as mayor. He was declared mayoral candidate by the Labour party even before the election.
This is also the first time that there have been five councillors of Punjabi origin elected from Gravesham. Others elected are Narinderjit Singh Thandi (Northfleet south ward), Makhan Singh (Pelham ward), Balbir Singh Sangha (Pelham ward) and Gurdeep Bungar (central ward).
Gravesham council was one of the highly contested councils in the south-east this year. It witnessed campaigning by both the Prime Minister and David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, and Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition and the Labour party. Gravesham falls within the Conservative heartlands in the south-east. Ed Miliband even joined the victory celebration on May 6 and said wresting the council from the Conservatives was a good sign for them. This is the only local council in Kent under the control of the Labour party.
Tanmanjeet, born and brought up in the UK, has family roots in village Raipur of Jalandhar. He studied in three of the most prestigious universities in the country including Cambridge and Oxford. He studied mathematics with management studies at University College London, before studying applied statistics at Keble College, Oxford University. He then went on to explore the history and politics of south Asia while studying for his MPhil at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.
After he completed his studies, he joined the Labour party and was elected as councillor from the Northfleet North ward in Gravesham in 2007, from where he has been elected again. He was unanimously elected as chairman of the Gravesham constituency Labour party for the last two years running.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiat...531832_1_labour-party-ed-miliband-councillors
