The 28-year-old former refugee has become a viral sensation since being appointed to the role – and has won over his critics. ‘I decided to be myself,’ he says

By Decca Aitkenhead, The Saturday Interview @ The Guardian.com, June 22

[....] He also invited the letter-writers who condemned his appointment in the local press to a round-table meeting, because “I believe we should be having uncomfortable conversations, rather than sweeping things under the carpet”. The man who had complained that the city’s people were “losing their identity” didn’t show up. “But others did and they came around to it at the end of the day.” Really? “Yes, genuinely, they did.”

Magid strikes me as unusually untroubled by self-doubt. He agrees. He is well aware of some hostility on the council towards him and his ideas, but he says it is concentrated in one party, which he won’t name. His plan is to “kill it with kindness and bury it with a smile. You could be the most racist person to me; I will still open that door for you. You can’t solve hate with hate. That doesn’t solve anything whatsoever. I will still be kind to you, because at the end of the day you’re human; we all go through the same problems, same issues, face the same things, and I believe people can come around just by meeting people. I treat people with kindness, because arguing doesn’t solve anything.” He knows there are people who are waiting for him to mess up – “100%, massively” – and he is sure he will, sooner or later. “I’m not perfect. I’m going to make mistakes [....]