The Mayor of Bath has tonight, Monday 30th March, resigned his post in the wake of the furore surrounding his retweeting of antisemitic posts.
Mayor of Bath Dr Bharat Pankhania | Photo © Paul Gillis / paulgillisphoto.com
Last Friday, 27th March, we reported that Dr Bharat Pankhania, the city’s 798th Mayor, had been suspended from Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Liberal Democrat group and would be undertaking training in equalities and social media conduct after his retweets about an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity.
Dr Pankhania had retweeted a post on his personal account on X (formerly Twitter) which called the arson attack in Golders Green an Israeli false flag operation, along with two posts suggesting it was insurance fraud.
He subsequently deleted the retweets and published a full apology on X, calling the posts “abhorrent”.
Dr Pankhania has been a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Combe Down ward in Bath since 2019.
In a statement tonight B&NES Liberal Democrat Group said: “Today, March 30 2026, Cllr Bharat Pankhania has offered his resignations from the position of Mayor of Bath and from the Liberal Democrat Group on Bath and North East Somerset Council, from which he had already been suspended. Both these resignations have been accepted.
“Cllr Pankhania again apologised for his interactions on X and reiterated that he has spent his life working with all communities, whilst acknowledging the hurt he had caused.
“In resigning, Cllr Pankhania is taking clear personal responsibility for his actions.
“As a group and as a party, we reject discrimination wherever it occurs and reiterate our stance against antisemitism.”
Councillor Pankhania is currently listed on the council’s website as “unaligned” to any political party.
The Mayor of Bath is a ceremonial role, held for a year at a time by one of the councillors on B&NES Council who represent a ward within the city.
The current Deputy Mayor is Councillor Ian Halsall who represents Oldfield Park as a Liberal Democrat.
Tonight, the Charter Trustees of the City of Bath confirmed that he and senior Charter Trustees would cover all civic engagements until the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 6th June when the next Mayor will be elected.
