Councillor Allin Mohamoud Dirir and his wife, Linda, who was elected mayor of Warrington
In Somaliland it is often said that “a man without a nickname is like a goat without horns”. The scarlet jacket Allin Mohamoud Dirir favoured as a youth prompted his nickname Ali Red Coat.
While still a teenager he became famous for founding a political party, the National United Front of Somaliland. He discovered a talent for negotiating when dispatched by his village to a regional summit. Mistaken by the elders for a teaboy, he subsequently astonished them by stilling a raucous assembly. Tales of Allin’s compelling speech and honeyed voice entered Somali political folklore.
In 1961 Allin moved to England, and in 2000 became the first Somali elected to local office there. He was thrice elected chairman of the parish council of Penketh,
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