Brimming With Ideas

Councillor Razia daniels is poised to be chester’s new lord mayor in may but there’s a whole lot more to discover about the woman behind the glittering chain, as Janet Reeder reveals.

- Janet Reeder

COUNCILLOR Razia Daniel’s home has an enviable view over Chester’s River Dee but it’s more than just a fabulous location. Across the river is the ward she has represented since 2006.

As she poses for pictures on the balcony of the apartment that she shares with her husband, Stephen, she has a vista of the Handbridge skyline and is particularly proud of what she has achieved there.

The Conservative councillor for Handbridge Park was instrumental in getting a zebra crossing for Queens Park Road, after many years of others trying and failing and while to the uninitiated it sounds a pedestrian kind of triumph, as Razia explains it has made a great difference to many of the elderly people who live there.

‘An old lady came up to me and said “Razia, that zebra crossing you’ve put there is the best thing ever” and, that’s why I am a councillor. I love walking around the ward with everyone stopping me for a chat. It takes ages for me to get around because I talk to everyone but I absolutely love it. It’s such a pleasure to do good. ‘

Razia has lived in Chester since 1985 and before that Sandbach but she was born in Tanzania in a place called Dodoma. She was just 10 when her father died and she was taken under the wing of her uncle so she could continue her secondary education. Her uncle adopted her and brought her to Cheshire in 1977.

Two years later she was temping as a secretary in the photographic department of an engineering company when she met Stephen. She has been with him ever since and they recently celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary at Chester’s Opera Grill restaurant.