Councillor Shaukat Ali was sworn in on May 20 as the 128th Lord Mayor of Manchester, taking over from Councillor Carmine Grimshaw in a civic role that carries the city’s ceremonial duties but no political power. Ali, who had already served as Deputy Lord Mayor, said it was a great honour to represent the people of Manchester.

Ali, elected as a councillor for Cheetham in 2012, will use his mayoral year to focus on supporting children in social care and strengthening community cohesion across the city. The Lord Mayor chairs full council meetings and represents Manchester at official functions, engagements and charity events, but unlike the Mayor of Greater Manchester does not make political decisions.

His appointment caps a public life shaped by a long route into civic office. Born in 1965 in District Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, in Pakistan, he moved to Manchester at 16 speaking very little English. He later worked in textile manufacturing, became self-employed, ran a furniture business and then a small food outlet, and spent several years as a licensed taxi driver in the city.

That experience also took him back to the classroom. Ali studied English in the evenings and later earned an IT diploma from City College Manchester. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he volunteered with the Rainbow Surprise charity delivering food to vulnerable people in North Manchester, a period he has described as one that showed him how collaboration, mutual respect and hard work can bring people together.

Ali is a married father of four, and his wife, Kausar Parveen, will serve as Lady Mayoress throughout his year in office. In remarks marking the start of his term, he said his early years in Pakistan and his life in Manchester, where he has made his home and raised his family, have strongly shaped his values. He said he was proud to champion the city and celebrate the diversity, resilience and community spirit that make Manchester special, and said he looked forward, with the support of his family and the people of Manchester, to promoting the city and recognising the organisations and individuals that contribute to its success.

Because the post is ceremonial, the mayoralty will not give Ali policy control over the city’s direction. What it does give him is a public platform at a moment when Manchester is asking its civic figurehead to speak for the city, and Ali is entering the role with a life story that mirrors much of the city’s modern diversity.