Long-time supporter and former Chair of the Refugee Support Group, Dr Alice Mpofu-Coles has been elected as Mayor of Reading.

University of Reading researcher, activist, and community leader Dr Alice Mpofu-Coles has been appointed Mayor of Reading for 2025, pledging to continue tackling inequalities and amplifying unheard voices.

Dr Mpofu-Coles, a Senior Research Fellow and Community Researcher Associate at the University, was officially inaugurated at Reading Town Hall in May 2025. A Labour Councillor for Whitley since 2021 and Deputy Mayor from 2024 to 2025, she has long championed causes including reducing inequalities, expanding youth opportunities, improving healthcare access, and tackling poverty.

Her mayoral year will support ReadiFood, a foodbank service, and Utulivu Women’s Group, which promotes equal opportunities for BAME and refugee women and girls. She is also a trustee for several charities, including City of Sanctuary.

A passionate advocate for social justice, author, creative researcher, and compelling public speaker. Arriving in Reading in 2002 as a refugee from Zimbabwe after serving as a diplomat in Mozambique and the former Yugoslavia, she rebuilt her life working in a sandwich factory as a cleaner, and as a carer before qualifying as a social worker and earning her doctorate. She has chaired Refugee Support Group and continues to advocate for refugees nationally.

As Mayor, she invites Reading to unite:

“Let us serve together to make our nearly-a-city – Reading – a beacon in Berkshire, nationally and internationally. Let us be proud of the different languages spoken, as they enrich our town and help us thrive together. Let us continue to work together to strengthen our communities, for we are stronger together but weaker apart.”