THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE BARONESS SHREELA FLATHER. LLB, JB, DL. OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
A key figure in Maidenhead civic life, Shreela Flather became the first female Asian mayor in Britain.
Born in Lahore in 1934, Shreela came to study at University College, London and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. She is married to Gary Flather QC and they have two sons.
Shreela was a borough councillor for fifteen years, from 1976 to 1991, and was the first female ethnic minority councillor in Britain. She became the first Asian mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in 1986/7 – this made her the first Asian lady mayor anywhere in the UK.
As an acknowledgement of her community work with refugees, race relations, and prison reform, Shreela was raised to the peerage in 1990 and became the first Asian woman to sit in the House of Lords.
Her expertise is sought on many public bodies. In 1995, she was appointed the UK representative on the European Advisory Committee on Racism and Xenophopia, and has also served as the UK representative on the European Community’s Economic and Social Committee.
Among many other appointments she has been a trustee of the Rajiv Gandi Foundation (UK), a governor of the Commonwealth Institute and a Director of Meridian Broadcasting. Locally, she has been a director of Thames Valley Enterprise, vice chairman of Maidenhead Citizens Advice Bureau and president of the Community Council for Berkshire.
Shreela was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire in 1994. In 1996 she was recognised as Asian of the Year by Asian Who’s Who.
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