Last Tuesday, Councillor Mohammad Aslam became the new Mayor of Ealing and first Muslim to hold that post.

The Norwood Green Councillor was one of the first Pakistanis to open a shop in Southall in the 1960s. Starting from a greengrocer’s in Beaconsfield Road, he quickly expanded his business and became a very successful business man.

Councillor Aslam has been a governor of Beaconsfield Primary School for 15 years.

He entered politics as a Conservative before defecting to the Labour party 14 years ago.

The Mayor’s two official charities are the Samaritans and Dementia Society. The third will be decided in the coming weeks.

The new deputy mayor is North Greenford Councillor Shahbaz Ahmed.

Councillor John Gallagher, the outgoing mayor, thanked his mayoress Pauline Melson, and the outgoing youth mayor, Jahanara Chaudhry, for her hard work.

Councillor Gallagher raised more than £15,000 for his chosen charities.