Professor Adeeba Malik CBE HM Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
Professor Adeeba Malik CBE was appointed by His Majesty the King as Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, the fourth largest county in England, on 22nd December 2025. Born in Bradford to immigrant parents, she began her career as a teacher before joining the QED Foundation in 1992, an award-winning ethnic minority focussed social and economic development charity, where she serves as Deputy Chief Executive.
Adeeba is a distinguished leader in social and economic development, with a lifelong commitment to influencing government economic and social policies and empowering disadvantaged communities through social mobility and inclusion.
She is an influential advisor with exceptionally broad experience in the voluntary sector and public life, having held a wide range of ministerial roles over three decades across Whitehall in departments such as the Cabinet Office, the Department of Education, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department of Health and Social Care. She has served on the boards of all governments since 1998.
She has been a trustee for numerous charities, including her recent role with the Bradford Culture Company, which is responsible for delivering Bradford's UK City of Culture 2025 programme. Her current advisory roles include the Home Office Strategic Race Board and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office UK-Pakistan Advisory Council. She is also an independent member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and a Visiting Professor at York St John University.
Honoured with an MBE (2004) and a CBE (2015), she was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2022, served as the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire from 2024 to 2025, and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford in 2024.
Recognised as one of Yorkshire's Top 20 Influential Women by the Yorkshire Post and a recipient of numerous regional and national awards, she is a passionate advocate for opportunity, education, and equality for all.
Outside her public service, Adeeba enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as music, theatre, cinema, and walking.
