Councillor Desmond Paul was elected Pontypridd Town Mayor on May 18th 2023 at the Annual General Meeting of Pontypridd Town Council. Desmond represents the Treforest Ward and is a member of the Welsh Labour group.

Congratulations on your new role. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Councillor Desmond Paul, the new mayor elected by my fellow town councillors for 2023 - 2024. I’m happy to say that my wife Anoma Paul has agreed to become Mayor Consort for the year. I’m thrilled and feel very privileged to be elected. I’m originally from Sri Lanka, and I worked as a Flight Lieutenant in the Air Force. When I first moved to the United Kingdom,  I lived in London, and worked as a chief Security officer for British Airways. I have a large family, and my one sister was living in Wales. I always found time to visit her, I liked walking around everywhere and I liked the people I met. Eventually she convinced me to come and live here. I started my own business in Treforest - Desmond’s Newsagents, which I ran for 35 years. That’s why everybody in Treforest and Pontypridd knows me! Now that I'm retired, it's brought me more spare time. And I thought, ‘well, I’ve got more time now, so  I'm going to give my full support to the Town Council and to the people of Pontypridd, Treforest and all the communities around here.’ 

You’ve been a Pontypridd Town Councillor for many years, but tell us something about you that people may not know? 

Before I emigrated to the United Kingdom, I was the Commanding Officer in charge of re-establishing the Sri Lankan Air force operational division in Koggala. I was given three years to re-establish the base, that was abandoned after the Second World War, but I completed it in two years.

What are your priorities as Mayor?

I want to do something significant to help the community. I’m supporting 3 charities as Mayor.  First, I want to do something to help end homelessness in the area, to help all those who are vulnerable, young and old to have a better life. So I’m supporting the homelessness charity The Wallich. I’m also supporting the MND Association, a charity that helps people with motor neurone disease. I particularly want to support this charity as my cousin Ramesh Vethanayagam has recently been diagnosed, he is only sixty years old and is now in  a wheelchair. So raising as much as possible and to be able to donate something to that charity is a priority. My third charity is Cerebral Palsy Cymru, and that is in support of my grandson Isaac Paul. My son has twins who were born prematurely, and Isaac has had a lot of complications. He’s been helped a lot by this charity, who have helped to improve his health.

Also, as I’m a veteran of the Air Force, I will be supporting the Armed Forces veterans. I'm an active member of Valley Veterans RCT and the Royal Welsh Veterans, Caerphilly branch and I will do whatever I can to support veterans as well as my main charities. I’m going to do whatever I can to leave a legacy from my time as Mayor. I'm so proud to be the first Sri Lankan Mayor of Pontypridd. 

Pictured:

Pontypridd Town Mayor, Cllr Desmond Paul and Mayor's Consort, Anoma Paul.