London – Councillor Chaman Lal become the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. He was born in a village called Pakhowal, in the Hoshiar Pur District, Punjab, India. Lal’s father came to England in 1954 and settled in Birmingham taking employment in various industries including several years with British Steel.
Chaman came to England with his mother Sardarni Jai Kaur to join his father in 1964 and like his father the Lord Mayor has always lived in Birmingham, so he is truly a Brummie.
Mr Lal has served many years on the West Midlands Transport Authority and has a keen interest in improving public transport. As Chair of the Transport Scrutiny Committee, he led several Task and Finish Groups including making the recommendations for the best e-ticketing solution for the WMPTA which led to the introduction of the contactless travel (Swift Card) in the West Midlands area. His other policy reviews resulted in more late night and early morning bus services to meet the needs of the night economy as well as early morning workers.
