Magid Magid - known by his fans as ‘Magic Magid’ - was always going to do things his own way.
The 29-year-old Somalian refugee is the youngest person to become the Lord Mayor of Sheffield.
His family moved to the city, in the English county of South Yorkshire, when he was five years old, after spending spent six months in an Ethiopian refugee camp.
But he’s likely to be remembered for far more than his youth and unconventional childhood. 
Mr Magid made global headlines with his controversial official portrait, in which he is perched on the pillar of a staircase in Sheffield’s illustrious Town Hall.
Magid Magid made global headlines with his controversial official portrait. Source: Supplied
Donning a colourful tie and combat boots, he squats nonchalantly with a smile from ear-to-ear.
The picture, taken just after he took office in May, propelled him to a level of fame no other regional council leader has experienced.
Mr Magid told SBS News he took the unorthodox approach to stand out from his predecessors.
“I looked at all these other portraits, and I remember thinking to myself, it’s such a shame because they don’t say much, they don’t tell a story, they’re all quite boring, I thought it’d be great to have some creativity into it.”
He has since continued to make global headlines, most notably for ‘banning’ Donald Trump from his city.
Though it was a move fiercely criticised by the US far right, Magid insists the negativity was eclipsed by widespread support of his decision.
“People on the right, American congressmen, a lot of people just came piling in ... but it engaged with people not just from Sheffield, but around the world ... the positive outweighed the negative.”
Mr Magid said he drifted into politics after observing how the leaders he was exposed to growing up weren’t an accurate reflection of the community.
The 29-year-old became the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in May. Source: SBS
“One of the reasons I wanted to get into politics was I realised the people that represented us didn’t reflect the people they represent,” he said.
He also said he wanted to change attitudes within the sector.
"Can we have a kinder, gentler politics?" he said in an interview with a UK think tank last week.
Mr Magid's focus while in office is empowering young people and promoting Sheffield’s creative sector.
He is continually seeking feedback on his performance, mostly through social media, which he uses regularly to engage with the community.
He even uses the platform to invite people to events, proving handy when he couldn’t find anyone to see Mamma Mia 2 with.
“I love ABBA, unashamedly an ABBA fan,” he said.
“It was quite funny, I asked a friend if he wanted to watch it with me, he said no-one will want to. So I asked people on Twitter. We packed out the cinema, there was even a girl who travelled seven hours from Southampton to watch it.”
While he’s constantly stopped in the street for selfies, not everyone’s a fan of the Lord Mayor’s style. A petition calling for him to be removed from the largely ceremonial role received 6,000 signatures.
Magid says social media is key to his engagement with the community. Source: SBS
It was rejected by the UK government.
“People come up with all these sticks to beat me with, but I can’t help but feel that for a majority of it, they hide behind the cloaks of tradition to hide their racism, and they don’t like me for who I am.”
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Lord Mayors in Sheffield only serve one-year terms, meaning Mr Magid will soon have to decide what he wants to do next.
But despite his newfound national profile, he says he has no interest in heading to Westminster.
“I genuinely believe you don’t have to have a fancy title like Lord Mayor or be an MP to make a real difference in your community. There’s so many amazing people across Sheffield, across Australia, across the world, who are having an impact.”
