First Sinhalese elected counsellor in London

LONDON: Lakmini Shah Dissanayaka was recently elected as a member of the Labour Party controlled London Borough of Newham in the recently concluded Local Government Polls. She is the first Sinhala member to be elected to such coveted position. Her election despite the severe competition in the local ward is an indication of the great confidence and trust the electors had in her.

Lakmini who hails from Hambantota had her early education at CMS Ladies College Colombo, Sri Lanka and proceeded to Moscow Russia on a scholarship to the Tashkent State University to study Planning and Economics.

Later she arrived in the UK and did a top up course in Economics at the Newham campus.

In 1995 she joined the British Gas Board as a Financial and Retial Consultant. In the year 2000 she did a short stint in teaching during which period she was 'discovered' by the Labour Party as a potential candidate and groomed her during the 2005 General Elections in the UK.