Shabana Mahmood

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Shabana Mahmood
Official portrait, 2020
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Assumed office
4 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded bySteve Reed
Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator
In office
9 May 2021 – 4 September 2023
DeputyConor McGinn (2021–2022)
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byAngela Rayner
Succeeded byPat McFadden
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
8 May 2015 – 14 September 2015
LeaderHarriet Harman (Acting)
Preceded byChris Leslie
Succeeded bySeema Malhotra
Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
7 October 2013 – 8 May 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byChris Leslie
Succeeded byAlison McGovern
Shadow Minister for Higher Education
In office
7 October 2011 – 7 October 2013
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byIain Wright
Succeeded byLiam Byrne
Shadow Minister for Prisons
In office
8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byAlan Duncan
Succeeded byDavid Hanson
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Ladywood
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byClare Short
Majority28,582 (67.9%)
Personal details
Born (1980-09-17) 17 September 1980 (age 43)
Small Heath, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour
Alma materLincoln College, University of Oxford
WebsiteOfficial website

Shabana Mahmood (Urdu: شبانہ محمود; born 17 September 1980)[1] is a British politician and barrister who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010.[2][3][4] A member of the Labour Party, she has served in the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice from September 2023. She previously served as Campaign Co-ordinator from 2021 to 2023, and briefly as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2015.

Early life and education

Mahmood was born and brought up in Birmingham.[3][4] Her father is a civil engineer and chair of the local Labour party.[5] She attended Small Heath Leadership Academy and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls in Birmingham.[5]

Mahmood graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford where she studied law and was the president of the Junior Common Room.[6] She is a qualified barrister, specialising in professional indemnity.[7]

Parliamentary career

At the 2010 general election, Mahmood was elected as MP for Birmingham Ladywood with a majority of 10,105 and 55.7% of the vote.[8][9][10] Along with Rushanara Ali and Yasmin Qureshi, Mahmood became one of the UK's first female Muslim MPs.[3]

Mahmood served a number of front bench positions under Ed Miliband's leadership, including Shadow Minister for Prisons, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.[11]

At the 2015 general election, Mahmood was re-elected with an increased vote share of 73.6% and an increased majority of 21,868.[12] Following the election, Mahmood was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.[13] In September 2015, following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader, Mahmood stepped down from the role, saying she "strongly disagreed" with him on the economy.[14]

In January 2016, Mahmood was elected to represent the Parliamentary Labour Party on Labour's National Executive Committee, and was re-elected in July 2016.[15][16] In November 2016, Mahmood was elected one of the vice chairs of Labour's National Policy Forum.[17]

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[18]

In November 2016, Mahmood did not vote on a motion in Parliament for the UK to withdraw support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[19]

At the snap 2017 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 82.7% and an increased majority of 28,714.[20] Mahmood was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 79.2% and a decreased majority of 28,582.[21]

After Labour's loss in the 2019 election, Mahmood was asked to commission a review launched by Labour Together of the party's election performance. She was joined by Lucy Powell, Ed Miliband, Jo Platt and others.[22] Consequently, she did not nominate any candidate for the 2020 Labour Party leadership election or deputy election.

In the May 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, Mahmood returned to the Shadow Cabinet as Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator, replacing Angela Rayner in the role.[23]

On 13 June 2023, Mahmood ruled out a Lib–Lab pact in the byelections in Mid Bedfordshire, Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty.[24]

In September 2023, Keir Starmer appointed Mahmood as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice.[25]

Mahmood abstained from voting on the Scottish National Party backed ceasefire vote between Israel-Hamas in Gaza in November 2023.[26] For this reason local Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) groups have carried out protests against her, calling for her to either change her views or resign.[27] In the next general election the 'Never Forget Gaza' party aims to stand against her in the Ladywood constituency.[28] In February 2024 Mahmood reflected on this and spoke of "a loss of trust" of Labour from British Muslims.[29]

Awards and nominations

In January 2014, Mahmood was nominated for the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.[30]

In October 2015, she was named as one of the winners of the women's magazine Marie Claire's Women at the Top Awards.[31]

In 2018, Mahmood was named as one of the Brummies Who Inspire in celebration of the 175th anniversary of Birmingham City University.[32]

In September 2023, Mahmood was named by the New Statesman as the UK's twentieth most powerful Left Wing Figure.[33]

References

  1. ^ "About Shabana Mahmood". Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  2. ^ General Election 2010 Archived 24 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine Birmingham City Council
  3. ^ a b c Adetunji, Jo; Tran, Mark (7 May 2010). "General election 2010: first female Muslim MPs elected". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Shabana Mahmood MP". Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2011
  5. ^ a b Swain, Harriet (28 November 2011). "Shabana Mahmood, the shadow universities minister, is eager for battle". The Guardian.
  6. ^ Roy, Amit (7 April 2010). "Feisty Asians in UK poll fray". Kolkata Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Shabana Mahmood". politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll 2010" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  10. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Birmingham Ladywood". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Shabana Mahmood MP | Women in the Humanities". wih.web.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Shabana Mahmood MP". Parliament. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  14. ^ Walker, Jonathan (15 September 2015). "Birmingham MP resigned because she 'strongly disagreed' with Corbyn on economy". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  15. ^ Walker, Jonathan (27 January 2016). "Birmingham MP Shabana Mahmood represents Labour MPs on party's ruling committee". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Corbynistas and rebels make NEC gains as Skinner steps down". LabourList. 4 July 2016. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  17. ^ Thornton, Glenys (19 November 2016). "Great that my dear friend Ann Cryer has been elected Chair @UKLabour NPF and wonderful @ShabanaMahmood as vice chair #great labour women". Twitter.
  18. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Which Muslim MPs voted to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia?". 5Pillars. 1 November 2016. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham Mail. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  22. ^ Chappell, Elliot (23 December 2019). "Labour Together launches commission to learn from 2019 election". LabourList. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  23. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (14 May 2021). "Reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new Labour frontbench in full". LabourList. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  24. ^ Gye, Chloe Chaplain, Hugo (13 June 2023). "Labour rules out Lib Dem pact and aims to win three by-elections - including Dorries's old seat". The Independent. Retrieved 15 June 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Stone, Jon (4 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new shadow cabinet in full". independent.co.uk. Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  26. ^ Voce, Antonio. "How did your MP vote on the Gaza ceasefire motion?". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  27. ^ Leach, Harry (18 November 2023). "Protesters to rally against city MP after ceasefire vote". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  28. ^ Staff, The New Arab (24 November 2023). "New UK party wants Labour to 'Never Forget Gaza'". Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Labour lost Muslim voters' trust over Gaza, says MP Shabana Mahmood". BBC News. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  30. ^ "British Muslim Awards 2014 winners". Asian Image. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  31. ^ Rice, Francesca (1 October 2014). "Our Women At The Top Award Winners Share Their Top Career Advice". Marie Claire. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  32. ^ "BCU 175: Brummies Who Inspire". Birmingham City University. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  33. ^ Statesman, New (17 May 2023). "The New Statesman's left power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Birmingham, Ladywood

2010–present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2015
Succeeded by