Newly-elected mayor of Liverpool, Ned Mannoun, and his wife Tina, welcomed their son Jacob on September 7. Jacob Mannoun joins big brother Solomon, aged nearly 1. Solomon was born with kidney failure, and is currently waiting for a kidney transplant; we hope he is matched with a suitable donor very soon.

Ned was born in Boston in the United States, and conceived in Sierra Leone to a Lebanese mother and a Sierra Leone-born father. He describes himself as a proud Australian/American/Arab/African, and a moderate Shi’a Muslim. He is also a small business owner. Ned was swept to victory in Sydney’s local elections on the weekend; he is the first Liberal Party mayor that Liverpool has ever had, and at 30 years old, the youngest mayor ever elected in Liverpool. There was a strong swing in favour of the Liberal Party, who managed to gain several traditionally Labor seats in the western suburbs.