Chamber POTY: Cllr Waseem Zaffar, nominated by Waheed Saleem
Waseem Zaffar MBE is a 30-year-old councillor who has already made quite a name for himself. He has emerged from the shadow out of Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood, until recently seen as Zaffar’s guiding hand and mentor.
Zaffar was appointed by Sir Albert Bore as chairman of Birmingham City Council’s Social Cohesion and Community Safety Scrutiny Committee, a role he has tackled with enthusiasm. He launched the ‘My Brum’ inquiry to find out the core values that bring the people of Birmingham together, and the inquiry on welfare reform, an opportunity to trash the Government, as well as taking up the opportunity to raise his profile internationally through the cause of Mala Yousafzai.
The Chamber POTYs are the first Person of the Year Awards run by The Chamberlain News. To see who else has been nominated, click here
Although not a natural ally of the Labour leadership, Zaffar has managed to form an alliance of convenience that has given him enough headroom to make his mark.
A social media advocate who has a strong Twitter, Facebook and website presence he is constantly updating his followers on his daily activities and thoughts.
His international gallivanting took him to America to campaign for Obama in the presidential elections, providing a daily blog to his merry band of apparently mainly young followers.
No doubt a parliamentary seat may be in the offing very soon, perhaps via a council Cabinet post – if Sir Albert can forgive and forget!
