by Paul Goodman
"Cllr Govindia is set to replace Edward Lister who will step down as leader to take up a new role as deputy mayor of London.
Born in Jinja, Uganda's second largest city, Ravi first arrived in the UK aged 17 following General Idi Amin's expulsion of Ugandan Asians.
First elected in 1982, he has chaired several committees during his career at the council including leisure and amenity services, technical services and planning.
He currently holds the post of cabinet member for strategic planning and transportation.
Cllr Govindia is set to formally take over as leader at the next full council meeting on Wednesday 18 May."
At the risk of alienating councillors elsewhere, I think it's fair to say that Wandsworth has long been one of the most prominent Conservative councils in Britain, and Cllr Govinda's election will be widely noted in local government. Good luck to him.
I'm not going to list Cllr Govinda's full C.V, but I've been sent an account of his life that he wrote himself, and post below some details of his early years, which give a flavour of who he is, where he's come from, and what formed his beliefs:
"I was born in Jinja, Uganda’s second city, which I thought was big until I arrived in the UK aged 17 following Idi Amin’s expulsion of Ugandan Asians. It is an experience that has shaped my world view and there is little wonder I place a high value on individual freedom and personal choice.
Having spent the previous 72 hours at a halfcomplete airport being bitten by mosquitoes, the long coach trip to midSussex was a joy. Two days later we were taken by train to Plymouth and eventually to a disused army camp in the middle of Dartmoor.
I was a gawky youth straight from the tropics faced with a steep learning curve – going to a local comprehensive and confronting a different curriculum, meeting new people and new ways of doing things. An early crash course in etiquette, manners and ways of my adoptive country has stood me in very good stead all through my life.
I achieved the required ‘A’ level grades to go to university. To help family finances and save for university I became a bus conductor on the Western National buses operating on routes from Plymouth to all over south Devon and Cornwall. In the summer of 1973 I was voted the friendliest conductor on route 5A!
I read law at Queen Mary College and joined the Conservative Students Association. It was a decision which met with the disapproval of many of my fellow students but I stuck it out."
The vacancy of course arose because Cllr Edward Lister was recently appointed as a Deputy Mayor and chief of staff to Boris Johnson.
