Stalwart Telford councillor elected as new mayor

Councillor Amrik Jhawar is one of three elected representatives for the Ketley and Overdale ward.

He was elected as mayor for the incomign 2020/2021 year at a virtual Annual Council Meeting and Mayor Making Ceremony on Thursday evening.

Councillor Jhawar will be supported during his term in office by the mayoress Mrs Nirmal Jhawar.

He began his career in 1969 working at GKN Sankey in Hadley where he stayed 11 years before joining Royal Mail in 1980. He worked at Royal Mail until he retired in 2013.

Amrik also serves as a member of Ketley Parish Council where he has previously undertaken the role of chairman and is a member of Oakengates Town Council and Lawley & Overdale Parish Council.

For his charities during his mayoral year, Amrik has chosen the Jayne Sargent Foundation as part of raising awareness of breast cancer and also Telford Mind as part of raising awareness of mental health, particularly relevant given the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that this week is Mental Health Awareness Week.

Amrik and Nirmal have two grown-up children and four grandchildren.

Councillor Raj Mehta was elected as the new deputy mayor.

Councillor Mehta is one of of two elected representatives for the Horsehay & Lightmoor ward.

He became a borough councillor in a by-election in 2016 and was re-elected in May 2019.

He has also served as a member of Ketley Parish Council from 2012 to 2019 and is currently chair of Lawley & Overdale Parish Council and a member of Dawley Hamlets Parish Council and Great Dawley Town Council.

He has more recently been appointed chairman of the first Interfaith Council of Telford & Wrekin, which has been designed to build community ties and support cultural celebration.

Councillor Mehta has been working with the NHS for nearly two decades and runs a medical practice in Birmingham.