Matters India Reporter

London, May 23, 2024: The Cambridge City councillors elected Councillor Baiju Thittala as the new Mayor of Cambridge on May 23 for the Municipal Year 2024/2025. He succeeds Mayor Jenny Gawthrope Wood.

Born in Kerala and belonging to a farming community, Thittala says, “I left to Delhi looking for better opportunities and married my wife, Ancy in Delhi who was a nurse.”

Twenty years ago, Ancy migrated to Britain and Thittla followed her and even then the struggle to survive continued.

Thittala recalls, “I left to Delhi looking for better opportunities where I worked in garment export firms and as a field boy where I used to carry heavy goods and materials on my shoulders up to the 3rd floor of buildings.”

Thittala studied politics, sociology and history from Cambridge Regional College and graduated in Law from Anglia Ruskin University in 2013 with a 2.1 in LLB (Hons).

He also took a course in Employment Law at the University of East Anglia and a Legal Practice Course from Anglia Ruskin, and finally qualified as a solicitor in 2019 and is now practicing as criminal defence solicitor in a local firm.

As Mayor, Thittala intends to focus on championing social justice and equality and inclusion, with his Mayoral themes being Deep Diversity, Inclusivity and Pluralism.

One of Thittala’s chosen Mayoral charities is Street Aid, the council’s award winning initiative which gives rough sleepers an alternative to handing money directly; by pooling people’s donations.

“Having experienced homelessness myself,” Thittala says, “I can better understand the pain, sorrows, sufferings, and agonies of the people who are homeless.”

Another Mayoral project is the new world-class Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital which has the potential to lead the way on detecting and treating cancer. The charity which raises funds to support the hospital is predominantly led by local immigrants.

Thittala says: “In 2018 I was elected to represent East Chesterton in the by-election, becoming one of only a handful of first-generation Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) councillors in the history of Cambridge City Council.

In May 2023, Thittala was elected as the first Asian Deputy Mayor of the historic Cambridge.