Manchester’s first female Asian Lord Mayor appointed

Councillor Yasmine Dar has become Manchester’s first female Asian Lord Mayor and was welcomed as the new Lord Mayor of Manchester on Wednesday, 17 May in a full council meeting.

Councillor Dar was born in South Yorkshire but was raised in Manchester. She is a proud Mancunian and has lived in Manchester for over fifty years, alongside her five brothers and one sister.

Dar attended both Manley Park Primary School and Whalley Range High School. She then attended Abraham Moss College, where she studied Art and Design, Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy. After working for several years, Yasmine took the decision to complete a Diploma and Certificate in Welfare Studies and she shortly began working for a Welfare Rights Organisation supporting and advising people in need.

Empowered by her life experiences, while being a mother to two daughters, Yasmine completed a BA Hons in Social Work from Salford University.

In 2009, Dar and her brother Majid set up a charity for young people called ‘Community on Solid Ground’ in Whalley Range. It is now an award-winning service, and more than 400 young people access its activities on a weekly basis. Dar’s working life has included helping some of the most vulnerable and stigmatised in our communities around mental ill health, domestic abuse, and the criminal justice system.

She has valued the support of her loving parents, especially her late father M. Akram Dar, who encouraged her to become involved in local politics.

Dar has been the councillor for Moston for 9 years after first being elected in 2014. Soon after becoming a councillor, she was elected onto the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee – its highest governing body.

Life taught her that she could empower herself to do better, and this is why her year as Lord Mayor will have the theme of self-empowerment.

She will be supported by her daughter Amina as Lady Mayoress, and her brother Majid Dar as Consort during her year.

Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Yasmine Dar, said: “I am truly humbled and honoured to be the Lord Mayor of the City of Manchester. I am a proud Mancunian and I cannot wait to represent the people of this great city.

“I have been a Councillor in Moston since 2014, I am passionate about helping and connecting with communities across the city and I hope my role of Lord Mayor will help me do this.