Councillor Tejinder Dhami was formally elected as the new mayor of Ealing at the annual meeting of the full council on Tuesday (22 May).

As mayor, Councillor Dhami will undertake all civic ceremonial duties within the borough. This includes attendance at the key Remembrance Day service and greeting any members of the royal family visiting the borough. He will also chair meetings of the full council. The new mayor will be assisted in his duties by Councillor Abdullah Gulaid who was appointed deputy mayor.

As part of his new role Councillor Dhami will also hold events throughout the year to raise money to support his chosen local charities Heartlink and Age Link.

Councillor Dhami was first elected as a councillor for the Dormers Wells ward in 2002 where he has continued to serve for the past 16 years. He has undertaken a variety of duties, including vice chair of the regulatory committee and a member of both corporate parent and freedom of the borough committees. He was also Labour group secretary from 2006 to 2013 and assistant whip.

He has lived and worked in Ealing since coming to the UK 1962. In his professional life Councillor Dhami worked at the Lyons Maid ice cream factory for 28 years and then for Marks and Spencer up to his retirement. He is a life member of the Indian Workers Association (IWA) and has been an executive member of the IWA since 1997. He has a keen interest in sport, playing hockey for Ealing Technical College and taking part in Indian Gymkhana in the 1970s and is a life member of the Indian Gymkhana.

Councillor Dhami will be supported by his wife Rajinder during his mayoral year. They enjoy travelling, making regular trips to Canada and India to catch up with family and friends, and spending time with their four children and three grandchildren.

Councillor Dhami said: “I am very excited and honoured to be Mayor of Ealing for the coming year and to sharing this with my wife. The past year as deputy Mayor has given me a taste of what to expect and I look forward to a busy year in which I’ll get the chance to meet so many of Ealing’s residents. I also look forward to supporting my two chosen charities and seeing them benefit from my mayoral year.”

He takes over the mayoralty from Councillor Simon Woodroofe who stepped down on Tuesday. He dedicated his mayoral year to raising funds for his two chosen charities, The Log Cabin and Ealing Age UK, raising over £12,000 to be shared between the two charities.

Cabinet also announced

At the full council meeting the cabinet, which is the council’s main decision making body was also announced. The nine members and their portfolio areas are:

• Councillor Julian Bell: Leader, plus regeneration and transport
• Councillor Yvonne Johnson: Deputy leader, plus schools and children’s services
• Councillor Yoel Gordon: Chief whip
• Councillor Bassam Mahfouz: Finance and leisure
• Councillor Jasbir Anand: Business and community services
• Councillor Binda Rai: Health and adults’ services
• Councillor Peter Mason: Housing, planning and transformation
• Councillor Joanna Camadoo: Community safety and inclusion
• Councillor Mik Sabiers: Environment and highways.

You will see lots more of these cabinet members because they will head-up projects and initiatives within their portfolio areas.

The new cabinet has announced three core priorities for the council for the next four years, they are:

• Good, genuinely affordable homes
• Opportunities and living incomes
• A healthy and great place.

Cabinet members will now work with council officers to draw up more detailed plans for how the priorities will be delivered. You can read more about the priorities in council leader Julian Bell’s latest blog.