THERE'S A NEW HIGH SHERIFF IN THE COUNTY

I read, with interest, an article in today's Leicester Mercury about the appointment of Resham Singh Sandhu (photo above)  to the post of High Sheriff of Leicestershire. Resham is a stalwart of Leicester Council of Faiths, having served for several years as its Chair. He continues to be one of the strongest supporters of its work and an influential figure in the city of Leicester, the county of Leicestershire and beyond on issues to do with community cohesion and  good relations.

There's a new High Sheriff in the County

The new High Sheriff of Leicestershire has been selected at a ceremony in the High Court.

Resham Singh Sandhu, of Oadby, will become the local holder of the oldest continuous secular office under the Crown in Britain..

The High Sheriff is a volunteer, unpaid and in office for one year, and is the Queen's representative for law and order in the county.

The Office of High Sheriff is the oldest secular office in the UK after the Crown, and Leicestershire has had High Sheriffs since 1172.

Historically, responsibilities included tax collection, conscription and maintaining law and order, but today the role is chiefly attending royal visits and acting as returning officer in parliamentary elections.

Before the High Sheriffs take up office next March, a second ceremony will take place at the Privy Council in London.

There, the Queen, using a silver bodkin in a practice dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria, will prick their names on a parchment list to give their appointments the royal seal of approval.

A couple of days later, the Mercury published a bigger feature on this subject, with a couple of very nice photos, but it wasn't uploaded to the paper's website. In this later article, it states that Resham will be the first turban-wearing Sikh High Sheriff in the country.