Notmaya: Created page with "{{Short description|British physician and former Mayor of Bath}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bharat Pankhania | image = | caption = | office1 = Member of Bath and North East Somerset Council for Combe Down | preceded1 = Cherry Beath | term_start1 = 2 May 2019 | birth_name = Bharat Ramji Nathoo Pankhania | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1960|10}} | birth_place..."

2026-11-02T08:55:02Z

Created page with "{{Short description|British physician and former Mayor of Bath}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bharat Pankhania | image = | caption = | office1 = Member of Bath and North East Somerset Council for Combe Down | preceded1 = Cherry Beath | term_start1 = 2 May 2019 | birth_name = Bharat Ramji Nathoo Pankhania | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1960|10}} | birth_place..."

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{{Short description|British physician and former Mayor of Bath}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bharat Pankhania
| image =
| caption =
| office1 = [[Councillor|Member]] of [[Bath and North East Somerset Council]] for [[Combe Down]]
| preceded1 = Cherry Beath
| term_start1 = 2 May 2019
| birth_name = Bharat Ramji Nathoo Pankhania
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1960|10}}
| birth_place = Kenya
| other_party = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (until 2026)
| occupation = Physician, academic, politician
| known_for = Public health medicine; Mayor of Bath (2025–2026)
| office = [[Mayor of Bath]]
| term_start = 7 June 2025
| term_end = 30 March 2026
| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (2026–present)
}}
'''Bharat Ramji Nathoo Pankhania''' (born October 1960)<ref name="find-and-update">{{Cite web |title=Bharat PANKHANIA personal appointments |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/zeuAaA129kdz7dcceJ6gXsf39Bg/appointments |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref> is a British physician, academic and politician who served as [[Mayor of Bath|Mayor]] of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] from 2025 to 2026.

Dr. Bharat Pankhania was born in [[Kenya]] to an Indian family from [[Gujarat]]. When Pankhania was 14, the family immigrated to [[Leicester]], England.<ref name="bathecho">{{cite news |date=12 June 2025 |title=Ceremony held to welcome Bath's 798th Mayor |url=https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/community/ceremony-welcome-first-mayor-indian-heritage-111242/ |work=Bath Echo}}</ref> Bharat moved to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], Somerset in 1991, and to [[Combe Down]] in 2008.<ref name="thebathmagazine">{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Maria |date=2024-10-02 |title=Portrait of Bath: Dr. Bharat Pankhania |url=https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/portrait-of-bath-dr-bharat-pankhania/ |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=The Bath Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Pankhania qualified from the Welsh Nation Schools of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales and trained as a General Practitioner in 1989. He trained in Public Health Medicine and specialised in infectious diseases and Communicable Disease Control and worked in the field in the UK.<ref name="thebathmagazine"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Principles of Health Protection - Meet the Team |url=https://sites.google.com/exeter.ac.uk/feb-march-2023-php/meet-the-team |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=Exeter Medical School |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2020, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he became known as a public-health commentator on public health issues including infection control and vaccination policy<ref>{{cite news |last=Collier |first=Emma |date=31 March 2020 |title=Frontline NHS staff across South West hospitals 'frightened' over lack of protective equipment, says former health boss |url=https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-03-31/frontline-nhs-staff-across-south-west-hospitals-frightened-over-lack-of-protective-equipment-but-unable-to-speak-out |work=ITV News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cook |first=Joe |date=14 February 2021 |title=Talk of opening pubs in April is premature, health expert warns |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/covid-pubs-opening-april-restaurant-warning-expert-bharat-pankhania-youngs-DWyqkP_2/ |work=LBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Covid-19: After Lockdown, with Dr. Bharat Pankhania |url=https://www.brlsi.org/talk/covid-19-after-lockdown-with-dr-bharat-pankhania-virtual-bath-royal |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution |language=en-GB}}</ref> and also published academic scholarship in this regard.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Osama |first=Tasnime |last2=Pankhania |first2=Bharat |last3=Majeed |first3=Azeem |date=2020-05-01 |title=Protecting older people from COVID-19: should the United Kingdom start at age 60? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32315559 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=113 |issue=5 |pages=169–170 |doi=10.1177/0141076820921107 |issn=1758-1095 |pmc=7366331 |pmid=32315559}}</ref> He joined the [[University of Exeter Medical School]] in 2017 and served as a senior clinical lecturer until 2026,<ref name="bath">{{cite web |date=11 July 2025 |title=New Mayor of Bath Professor Bharat Pankhania visits campus |url=https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/new-mayor-of-bath-professor-bharat-pankhania-visits-campus/ |publisher=University of Bath}}</ref> leaving following the social media posts controversy regarding the [[2026 Hatzola arson attack]].<ref name="jewishnews">{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Annabel |title=Bath mayor leaves University of Exeter after antisemitic conspiracy row |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/bath-mayor-leaves-university-of-exeter-after-antisemitic-conspiracy-row/ |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=Jewish News |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2022, Pankhania was appointed Director of the [[Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution|Bath Royal Literary and scientific institution]] trustees.<ref name="find-and-update"/>

Pankhania was elected as a [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] councillor for [[Combe Down]] ward on [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and [[North East Somerset]] Council in the 2019 local elections.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-02 |title=Election results by Wards,2 May 2019 |url=https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/mgElectionResults.aspx?ID=34&RPID=0&V=1 |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=democracy.bathnes.gov.uk}}</ref> He was re-elected in 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-06-08 |title=Councillor details - Councillor Bharat Pankhania |url=https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=6892 |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=democracy.bathnes.gov.uk}}</ref> and served as Deputy Mayor before being elected as the 798th Mayor of [[Bath, Somerset]]<ref name="bathabbey">{{Cite web |date=2025-06-05 |title=New Mayor & Deputy Mayor of the City Of Bath |url=https://www.bathabbey.org/new-mayor-deputy-mayor-of-the-city-of-bath/ |access-date=2026-06-08 |website=Bath Abbey |language=en-GB}}</ref> on 7 June 2025 by the city's charter trustees. He was the first person of Indian heritage to hold the office.<ref name="bathecho"/><ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 2025 |title=History-making Mayor of Bath says diversity is our strength |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/diversity-strength-says-history-making-070853057.html |work=Yahoo News UK}}</ref> He served as Mayor of Bath from June 2025 to March 2026.<ref name="theguardian">{{Cite news |last=Grierson |first=Jamie |date=2026-03-31 |title=Mayor of Bath resigns after posts suggesting London ambulance fires were Israeli ‘false flag’ |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/31/bath-mayor-resigns-bharat-pankhania-golders-green-ambulance-fires |access-date=2026-05-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> His theme for the year was 'Education is Empowerment'.<ref name="bath"/>

In late March 2026, shortly after the arson attach of four ambulances [[2026 Hatzola arson attack|operated by the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola]] in [[Golders Green, London]], Pankhania shared posts on his personal X account, describing the attack that is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime by the [[Metropolitan Police]],<ref>{{cite web |date=23 March 2026 |title=Investigation launched after arson attack on ambulances in Golders Green |url=https://news.met.police.uk/news/investigation-launched-after-arson-attack-on-ambulances-in-golders-green-507420 |access-date=2026-06-08 |publisher=Metropolitan Police}}</ref> as an 'Israeli [[false flag]] operation'. Other posts Pankhania later shared called the attack [[insurance fraud]]. Pankhania was subsequently suspended<ref name="independent">{{cite news |last=Hayhurst |first=Claire |last2=Minchin |first2=Rod |date=1 April 2026 |title=Mayor of Bath resigns over social media posts |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/golders-green-bath-mayor-resigns-b2950131.html |work=The Independent}}</ref> from the Bath and North East Somerset (Banes) council by the Liberal Democrat party and was set to take training in “equalities and social media conduct” following the retweets.<ref name="hellorayo">{{Cite web |last=John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service |title=Mayor of Bath resigns over retweet row |url=https://www.hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/bristol/news/mayor-bath-resigns-retweet-row |access-date=2026-06-05 |website=Hits Radio (West of England) |language=en}}</ref> Pankhania later resigned from both his party and the mayorship. He was the first Bath mayor to resign since 1937.<ref name="theguardian"/><ref name="hellorayo"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-03-31 |title=Bath mayor resigns after sharing posts claiming Jewish ambulance arson was false flag |url=https://www.upday.com/uk/politics/bath-mayor-resigns-after-sharing-posts-claiming-jewish-ambulance-arson-was-false-flag/fhknp4n |access-date=2026-06-05 |website=The latest National and International News - upday News |language=en-gb}}</ref> Pankhania subsequently apologised for the posts<ref name="theguardian"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davison |first=Tamara |date=2026-03-26 |title=Mayor apologises for post over north London ambulance attack |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/mayor-apology-israeli-false-flag-post-golders-green-ambulance-attack-b1276609.html |access-date=2026-05-18 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref> and deleted them.<ref name="jewishnews"/><ref name="independent"/>

As of June 2026, he remains an independent councillor on the [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and [[North East Somerset]] Council.<ref name="jewishnews"/><ref name="hellorayo"/>

Pankhania is married to Alison<ref name="bathabbey"/> and they share two children.<ref name="thebathmagazine"/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pankhania, Bharat}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British public health doctors]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Exeter]]
[[Category:Alumni of Cardiff University]]
[[Category:Mayors of Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors]]
[[Category:Independent politicians in England]]
[[Category:British epidemiologists]]
[[Category:Councillors in Somerset]]
[[Category:People from Leicester]]

Bharat Pankhania - Revision history