New Year's honour for election candidate
He might have lost out in his bid to become MP for Montgomeryshire but Kishan Devani can celebrate after being named in the New Year's Honours list.
Mr Devani stood as Liberal Democrat candidate for Montgomeryshire, losing out to Conservative Craig Williams in the election earlier this month.
However, he has now been recognised by the Queen with a British Empire Medal for services to community cohesion.
Mr Devani, writing on Twitter, thanked the Queen and the Cabinet office for the recognition.
He wrote: "To those of you that said this is not my country: I've only gone & been awarded a Queen's Honour & made a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to community cohesion – in the Queen's New Year's Honours List 2020! Thank you @RoyalFamily & @cabinetofficeuk!"
Mr Devani has previously received the Honour of the Freedom of the City of London and has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
He is the son of refugees, whose parents and grandparents arrived from Uganda in the 1970s fleeing the regime of Idi Amin.
He is a former religious studies teacher who speaks to black, Asian, minority ethnic (BAME) youth at universities to encourage them to get involved in British civic life and charitable work.
He has also worked as advisor to the Unity of Faiths Foundation and is the only ambassador of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.
Reacting to the honour Mr Devani said: "I opened the letter and I was gobsmacked, and what I read absolutely floored me, that I was to be honoured in Her Majesty's New Year's Honours list.
"I was just absolutely in joy. I could not believe I received this letter. It was deeply humbling because for me I see myself as someone who could be a role model for younger people in BAME communities where they could look up to and see they can also achieve.
"I am the son of refugees who came here with nothing in this country and for me in one generation to be a BEM is an absolute honour and a privilege."
