Sheffield Lord Mayor Magid Magid to step down

Sheffield's flamboyant Lord Mayor Magid Magid will stand down at the local elections in May.

Mr Magid said he would not seek re-election when his current term ends and was leaving to concentrate on new projects.

He said it had been an "absolute honour and privilege" to represent the Broomhill and Sharrow Vale ward.

A former refugee, Mr Magid was Sheffield City Council's first Green Party mayor and its youngest at 29.

At his swearing-in ceremony in May 2018, the Imperial March from Star Wars and the Superman theme tune were played.

He often wore trainers, t-shirts and baseball caps instead of the usual mayoral garb, and used social media to reach out to younger voters.

Mr Magid recruited poets, musicians, magicians and comedians to perform at full council meetings, and it became a tradition for him to wear a different hat as he chaired each meeting, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

He famously wore a sombrero - "in solidarity" with Mexico - when he made international headlines for "banning" US President Donald Trump from visiting the city.

Mr Magid said being mayor was the "most rewarding thing" he had ever done.

"One of the reasons I wanted to be a councillor was to play a more active role in my community and represent those voices that I believed weren't being represented in the council," he said.

He came to the UK aged five after spending six months in an Ethiopian refugee camp with his mother and five siblings.

Having fled Somalia, his family settled in the Burngreave area of Sheffield, and he went on to study aquatic zoology at the University of Hull.

He said he developed an interest in politics while at university and was elected president of the students' union.