I was born in a farming family in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, the sixth of nine children. My father drove a tractor. I learned early that nothing arrives unless somebody gets up and does the work, and that lesson has followed me across two continents and into the council chamber.
From Mirzapur to Wellingborough
I trained as an engineer, first with a bachelor’s degree in India and then, after moving to the United Kingdom in 2019, with an MSc in Advanced Computer Science at the University of Leicester and a data science certificate from MIT. I have spent fifteen years in technology, delivering large programmes in defence and in banking. In 2023 my wife, who is also an engineer, and I founded SAM AI Solutions, a small consultancy that helps organisations put artificial intelligence to practical use.
Long before any of that, in 2013, I helped set up an intermediate college in rural Mirzapur so that children from families like mine would not have to leave home to finish school. It is still the thing I am proudest of.
Wellingborough became home because it felt like one. It is a market town with real people, real problems and real pride, and I chose to put down roots here rather than in a city. When I decided to stand for the Town Council in 2025 it was not because I wanted a title. It was because I had spent enough evenings on doorsteps hearing the same frustrations to know that somebody had to take them seriously.
Councillor and Mayor
On 1 May 2025 the residents of Victoria Ward elected me to Wellingborough Town Council. Twelve days later my fellow councillors chose me as the town’s fifth Mayor. The story of a farmer’s son from Uttar Pradesh becoming Mayor of an English market town travelled a long way, from the Northants Telegraph to NDTV, The Week and India Today.
I took the chain seriously. Over the year I supported the historic transfer of Swanspool Gardens, the Pavilion and the tennis courts to the Town Council, opened the first showhome at Stanton Cross, laid the wreath at Broad Green on Remembrance Sunday, hosted a Civic Service, a Winter Gala and a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, and raised £6,421 for the Veterans Community Network and Together for Short Lives, more than any Town Council Mayor before me.
It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as Mayor of Wellingborough.
Handing over the chain, May 2026
Why I now sit as an Independent
In August 2026 I left the party I was elected under to sit as an Independent councillor for Victoria Ward. The decision was amicable and it was mine. I did not come into public life for a label. In plain English, being Independent means the only people I answer to are the residents of Victoria Ward. No whip, no party line, just you.
My priorities have not changed. Crime and anti social behaviour, a town centre that deserves better, school places, health services and the infrastructure to keep up with a town that is growing fast. What has changed is simply who I answer to.
How I work
I knock on doors every week, not only at election time. I reply to every message within 48 hours. I tell people straight what can be done, what cannot, and why. And I am not the kind of politician who asks you to come to me. I am available to you, as and when you want, on the doorstep, at the kitchen table or in the community centre.
If you see me, please don’t be a stranger.
Stop me. Tell me what is on your mind. The best conversations I have had about this town started with someone saying “Raj, have you got a minute?”