City names first black, hijab-wearing lord mayor

(BBC) The new lord mayor of Sheffield has made history as the first black woman wearing a hijab to be appointed to the role.

Labour’s Safiya Saeed was inaugurated as the city’s 128th lord mayor at a council meeting on Monday.

Members of her family travelled from her home country of Somaliland for the ceremony at Sheffield Town Hall.

Saeed said: “I am honoured to be the first black woman wearing a hijab to take this role. I came to Sheffield in 1985, and this city has truly become my home, a place where I have always felt I belong.”

The single mother-of-five, who was first elected as councillor for Burngreave in 2021, founded Reach Up Youth, a community project supporting young people, particularly those from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

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