Magid Magid

Magid Magid (, born 26 June 1989), also known as Magid Mah and Magic Magid, is a Somali-British activist and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of Sheffield from May 2018 to May 2019.

His appointment attracted significant media attention, as he is the first ethnic-Somali, the youngest-ever, and the first Green Party councillor to hold the role.

Born in Burao, Somalia (now in Somaliland), Magid came as a child refugee to Britain in 1994.

He grew up in Burngreave, Sheffield, and studied aquatic zoology at the University of Hull where he was elected president of Hull University Union.

His mother, and five siblings, left Somalia in 1994 "to find a better life," and they spent six months in a refugee camp in Ethiopia before being admitted to Britain.

The family moved to the Burngreave area of Sheffield.

Growing up, Magid has said that he remembers "just being happy" but notes difficulties in his childhood.

He has said that life was difficult for his family as he moved to Britain without being able to speak English, and they had to learn this new language as well as adapt to a new way of life.

His mother worked as a cleaner to support her children through school.

Burngreave was one of Sheffield's most economically-deprived areas during the early 2000s.

Magid has said that he didn't "have much in the way of a male role model," continuing that "it is easy to become a product of your own environment, and a lot of my environment was negative. So I was a bit of a pain in the arse for a while."

Magid attended Fir Vale School in Sheffield, and studied A Levels in Psychology, Law, and philosophy, at Longley Park Sixth Form College.

He cites an important part of his development being his interest in music, and at school he used to create and sell his own mixtapes on CDs.

He finished sixth form in 2008 and went on to raise his own funds, working 12-hour shifts for 9 weeks, to go on a gap year that he spent travelling.

He visited the Swiss Alps, where he went on a mountaineering course, as well as Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Germany, where he ran the Berlin Marathon.

By 17, Magid had developed an interest in mountaineering as a hobby, and in September 2009 went on a trip to Kilimanjaro, enlisted the help of a local guide, and climbed the mountain.

Magid decided that he wanted to go to university, and began a degree in aquatic zoology at the University of Hull after his gap year.

He founded the university's Mixed Martial Arts club, where he gained the nickname 'Magic Magid the Submission Magician'.

He was elected as president of the students' union, the Hull University Union, where he notes that he was not "politically savvy" but knew that he "cared about certain issues."

In 2013, as students' union president, Magid faced a letter of complaint from several union councillors, but due to administrative error in the way in which it was brought, it did not lead to a motion of censure.

Following university, Magid has worked in digital marketing.

He has also worked for the charity Shelter, and been self-employed.

In July 2023, Magid also took an honorary doctorate from the University of York.

Magid joined the Green Party of England and Wales in 2014, despite many of his family and friends being Labour Party supporters.

He decided to join the party having been affected by the rise of UKIP as a political force in England.

On UKIP, he has said that they were "competent at being evil" and "exploited people's disengagement with politics and their frustration."

He worked with the existing Green Party councillors in Broomhill and Sharrow Vale, and was elected as Fundraising Officer of the Sheffield Green Party.

He has worked in digital marketing and was elected as a Green Party councillor on Sheffield City Council in 2016.

He was elected as a Green councillor representing the ward in the 2016 election.

He has said that, regarding his political rise, "There's a lot of luck involved."

As a councillor, Magid has sat on the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny and Policy Committee and on the Senior Officer Employment Committee.

From 2017 to 2018, he served as Deputy Lord Mayor, and during this period he participated in the third series of the reality show Hunted.

Magid was born in Burao, the capital city of the Togdheer region of Somaliland.

Around the time of his birth, the Somali Civil War broke out.

Magid ran the Sheffield Half Marathon in April 2017 dressed as a tree to object to the council's felling policies.

Between his election and 1 June 2018, he had attended 90% of all meetings, and given apologies for all of his absences.

He has said that his main priorities as a councillor are to establish strong partnerships between the students and residents living in his ward as well as protecting conservation areas in the ward.

Politically, Magid is a republican, stating that while he believes hereditary heads of state to be an outdated concept, he does not find the members of the royal family objectionable.

He has also stated support for greater devolution, free university education, and an end to private finance initiatives.

In May 2019, he was elected to the European Parliament as Green Party MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.