Sheffields names first black, hijab-wearing Lord Mayor

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.

In her speech to the meeting she said she wanted “every voice, no matter how quiet, to feel heard in the heart of this city”.

The role of Lord Mayor is purely ceremonial, they do not have any powers but act as an ambassador for the city.

Meanwhile, politicians have also been selecting a new leader and two new party leaders.

With 36 Labour councillors, 28 Liberal Democrats, 14 Green, five Sheffield Community Councillors and one independent the council is in no overall control.

However, with the most councillors Labour’s Tom Hunt was re-elected as council leader.

After Shaffaq Mohammed stood down from the role , Martin Smith has been named as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Mohammed, who was nominated for a life peerage in the House of Lords in 2024, will remain as a councillor fo Ecclesall.

In the Green Party, Angela Argenzio replaced Douglas Johnson as leader, with Johnson stepping back after six years at the helm.