The Lord Mayor

Background

Councillor Bhupen Dave was born and educated in Uganda before coming to the UK in 1972 with his parents.  He studied at the University of Bristol and gained a BSc in Economics and then continued with his post graduate studies at the University of Southampton.

He joined Leicestershire County Council as a qualified social worker and later joined Leicester City Council, from where he retired as Director of Community Care.

Cllr Dave has a long career in politics and served as a city councillor from 1983 to 1995 when he represented Highfields and later Belgrave Wards. He was Deputy Leader of the City Council for many years and has chaired and vice chaired almost all of the Council’s committees which has given him a vast knowledge of many of the of Council’s services. He has also served as a local councillor for Oadby & Wigston Borough Council from 2012 to 2019. He was re-elected to the city council in May 2023 and now represents Rushey Mead Ward.

He is a people’s person and has initiated many community and business projects in the City over many years.  He was a founder member and Chairman of ASRA Housing Association for many years who provided specialist housing for vulnerable elderly people in various parts of Leicester. Through his community care activities, he highlighted the need for the provision of mobile meals and luncheon club services and was instrumental in providing these services to many vulnerable people. He initiated and supported both youth provision and specialist accommodation provision for vulnerable women and children with specific needs.

Cllr Dave was instrumental in establishing the twinning links between Leicester and the City of Rajkot in India, twinning links which still exist today. He has served as a Trustee and Director for many Charities and community organisations and throughout his life has always promoted community harmony by treating all communities fairly and equally. His involvement in developing various community, social and business start-up units can be found all across the City.

Cllr Dave has a wealth of experience of council work and working with local communities and enjoys interacting with people and working hard to promote community harmony. He is delighted to serve as Lord Mayor and is looking forward to the opportunity to work with people from various walks of life and to promote Leicester as a beacon of good community relations.

He is married to Usha, who will support him as Lady Mayoress throughout the year. They have two sons and a grandson and granddaughter.

Role of the Lord Mayor

The role of the Lord Mayor is primarily a ceremonial one, maintaining and promoting the interests of the city and its citizens, and attending a variety of engagements during the year.

The Lord Mayor is an elected city councillor. Throughout their civic year of office, they must remain impartial and are unable to be involved in any political or contentious events/issues. In this respect, the Lord Mayor’s role differs from that of the Elected City Mayor, which is a political role and is responsible for the executive decision making of the council. 

The Lord Mayor attends and hosts many events within the city, a number of which are held every year, including the Remembrance Service and Parade, the Armed Forces Service and Parade, the Damask Rose Ceremony, Civic Service and Annual Council.

Inviting the Lord Mayor to an event

If you wish to invite the Lord Mayor to attend your event, you should complete and submit the online form below at least four weeks before your event. For guidance or any other queries, please use the email at the bottom of this page to get in touch.

Deputy Lord Mayor and High Bailiff

Cllr Teresa Aldred will serve as Deputy Lord Mayor, with Cllr Manjula Sood remaining as High Bailiff.

Roll of Mayors

Should you require information on former civic office holders, you can request this by sending us an email on the address below.

Contact

Send an email to the Lord Mayor's office: lord.mayor@leicester.gov.uk.