Tahir Khan takes oath as Mayor

Ansar Ahmed Ullah :

Luton Borough Council has appointed its first Mayor of Bangladesh origin at
a special meeting held on 25 May at Luton Town Hall. The Mayoral Investiture
held at Council Chamber formally appointed Tahir Khan as the new Mayor of
Luton to serve 2016-2017. Tahir Khan was elected Mayor of the Borough of
Luton at Annual Meeting of the Council on 17 May.

The event started with prayers from Imam Uddin. Tahir Khan took the oath
declaring, ‘Having been elected to the office of Mayor of Luton Borough
Council, hereby declare that I take that office upon myself, and will duly &
faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to best of my judgement and
ability.’ And with that the Chief Executive formally presented the Chain and
Badge of Office of Mayor. Tahir Khan’s wife Shubeerar Akthar was also
invested with Mayoress’s Badge.

In a brief address the new Mayor Tahir Khan thanked his parents, family &
the Bengali community for their support and almighty Allah. He appealed to
all to assist him in working towards the betterment of Luton as a whole.

He was elected as Councillor in 2007 and has served on a number of
committees.  He successfully served as Lead Executive Member for Children
Services for five years. He is also on the Board of Directors at London
Luton Airport Limited and has served as a school governor for over 15 years,
currently acting as Chair of Governors at Denbigh Primary.
Tahir Khan has lived in Luton for almost twenty five years. He comes from
youth & community work background and is currently working as senior manager
in local government. He has worked for Bedfordshire County Council, Luton
Borough Council and some of the London boroughs. His special interests
include young people’s issues and developing opportunities for them to
participate in positive activities.
His involvement with the community started with the Bangladesh Youth League
and Centre for Youth & Community Development in Bury Park. Tahir Khan spent
his teenage years in Luton. He studied Community Management at the
University of Bedfordshire.

He is originally from Jagannathpur, Sylhet. He completed his primary and
secondary education in Bangladesh. But before finishing high school he came
to the UK in 1982 to join his father. His parents are Warish Khan and
Meherunnesa Khanom. Tahir Khan is married with two daughters and a son who
were all present at the investiture. He was elected as a councillor in 2007,
then in 2011, 2015 and finally became Mayor in 2016.