Chaman Lal

Chaman Lal is a British Labour Party politician and former Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

He took the oath for the role of Birmingham Lord Mayor on 23 May 2023.

He is the first person of British Indian origin to be elected for this designation.

Early life Chaman Lal was born in a Ravidassia Sikh family in village Pakhowal in Hoshiarpur district as a son of Sardar Harnam Singh, a British Indian army officer who served in Italy during the Second World War and his mother Sardarni Jai Kaur. His uncle, Sardar Ram Singh was also a British Indian army officer who was killed in the Burma campaign.

Political life He has been a councillor for the ward of Soho & Jewellery Quarter since 1994. He joined the Labour Party in 1989.

In July 2025, Lal was one of many Labour councillors in the city that were axed by the Party and told that they were not allowed to stand again in the next election. In the 2026 Birmingham City Council election, Lal stood as an independent in the Handsworth ward, but was not elected.

Personal life Lal married his wife Vidya in 1971, and they had three daughters and two sons.