The new Mayor of Harrow – the country’s first Jain Hindu mayor – has outlined her vision for the future of the borough.

Councillor Rekha Shah has been a Harrow councillor for 14 years and has lived in the area for 38 years since moving from Mumbai in 1977.

She will be the acting mayor for the next year, and wants to unite every faith in the borough under the flag of diversity.

“I want to bring all religions together – at our events we have five chaplains of various faiths, and a sermon led by another faith leader in a Christian church,” she says.

“The diversity is very good – there are more than 100 languages spoken on the streets here. Community cohesion is very important and it seems that everyone lives peacefully in the borough.

“Harrow is the safest borough in London and I want everyone to live in peace and harmony together.”

Councillor Shah’s employment background has put her in good stead to help the people in her community.

“I love to serve people – I was a social worker with people with mental health problems for a long time but took retirement two years ago. Even now when I travel by public transport I am always trying to help people cross the road or buy a ticket,” she says.

And it seems that politics runs in the family. Councillor Shah’s husband Navin claimed a first for Asian politics in the UK – he was the country’s first Asian council leader.

“He was a socialist who was involved in the Labour Party from day one,” Rekha recalls.

“Our house was like the Labour Party headquarters in the area. I was always cooking for everyone. Now our daughter has taken over his seat.

“People talk about the Shah dynasty - I think they are happy with that.”

The role of mayor is more than just acting as the figurehead – or “shop window” – for the council, despite around 600 public engagements planned for the coming year.

Councillor Shah wants to use her short time as mayor to benefit her local community and make a positive difference in people’s lives.

She has chosen Parkinson’s UK and Harrow Bereavement Care as her two nominated charities, and wants to encourage people, especially those of Asian origin, to become organ donors.