Slough Borough Council is delighted to welcome Councillor Siobhan Dauti as the new Mayor of Slough for the municipal year 2025/26.
Councillor Dauti was elected to the Mayor’s office and took her formal pledge at the annual meeting of the Full Council on 15 May.
Councillor Neel Rana was elected as her Deputy Mayor.
Councillor Dauti was born at Upton Hospital in 1969 and has spent her whole life in the town; being educated at Ryvers Primary, St Bernard’s Convent School and Thames Valley University and bringing up her three children in Britwell and Cippenham before returning to Langley.
She now has six grandchildren with a seventh on the way.
After a career in care, she retired in 2021 to become a full-time carer for one of her grandsons and her father and decided to stand as a councillor.
Councillor Dauti said: “I am honoured to be elected as the Mayor of Slough.
“I am immensely proud of my family’s Irish and English heritage, and the strong roots our family built here in Slough.
“Slough has been good to my family; it is home and always has been.
“Over this coming year, I would love to be able to promote Slough in a more positive light. And both myself and my Mayoress, Mrs Julie Siddiqui MBE, share the same values around equality, inclusion, acceptance and respect for all, so will be pushing those values throughout our term, as well as hopefully raising a lot of money for a few local charities that are close to our hearts.”
At the same full council meeting, the council’s cabinet – formed by the leader of the council – was also confirmed.
The Cabinet is now:
- Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Law & Governance, Strategy, Improvement and HR – Councillor Dexter Smith
- Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Finance, Assets and Transformation – Councillor Wal Chahal
- Cabinet Member for Communities, Sport, Leisure and Public Protection – Councillor Ejaz Ahmed
- Cabinet Member for Children & Lifelong Learning – Councillor Puja Bedi
- Cabinet Member for Planning, Parking, Highways and Transport – Councillor Paul Kelly
- Cabinet Member for Environment and Environmental Services – Councillor Gurcharan Manku
- Cabinet Member for Public Health, Wellbeing and Equalities – Councillor Ishrat Shah
- Cabinet Member for Customer Service, Front of House, IT and Performance – Councillor Mabu Shaik
- Cabinet Member for Housing, Temporary Accommodation and Estate Renewal – Councillor Robert Stedmond
- Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care – Councillor Anna Wright
Leader of the council, Councillor Dexter Smith, said: “'For continuity and stability, the composition of my Cabinet is largely unchanged from last year other than one key addition; the introduction of a specific Cabinet Member for Housing, Temporary Accommodation, and Estate Renewal.
“This new portfolio responds directly to pressures identified in our 25-26 budget, which highlighted both spending on, and the importance of, temporary accommodation.
“Coupled with our responsibility to maintain and improve our housing estate, this is a crucial and timely addition to the existing cabinet structure, building extra capacity as we work at pace to become a best value council over the next 17 months.”
The current political make up of the council is:
Conservative (group leader: Councillor Dexter Smith) – 20
Labour (group leader: Councillor Pavitar K Mann) – 11
Liberal Democrats (group leader: Councillor Sabia Akram) – 10
Independent – 1