Bangladeshi-origin politicians poised for historic role in UK Cabinet
DOT Desk: A total of four Bangladeshi-origin women politicians are currently represented in the British Parliament, reports Dhaka Tribune.
All recent election surveys in Britain indicate that the current opposition, the Labour Party, is leading the race to come to power in the next election. Incidentally, all four are members of the current opposition Labour Party.
Hence, within the Bangladeshi community, there is excitement that at least one politician of Bangladeshi origin might secure a position in the British Cabinet this time. In particular, four-time MP Rushanara Ali and three-time MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq are being prominently discussed within the Labour Party as potential candidates for Cabinet positions.
Rushanara Ali has been serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010. A member of the Labour Party, she was the first British Bangladeshi elected to Parliament. Born in Bishwanath, Sylhet, Rushanara Ali moved with her family to the East End of London at the age of seven. She attended Mulberry School for Girls and Tower Hamlets College, and later studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at St John’s College, Oxford. In April 2007, Rushanara was selected as the Labour Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow. In May 2010, she was elected as an MP with a majority of 11,574 votes.
Tulip Rizwana Siddiq was elected as the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn in 2015. Tulip was born on September 16, 1982, at St Helier, Sutton, London. Tulip is the daughter of Sheikh Rehana, the youngest daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She joined the Labour Party at the age of 16.As a member of the Labour Party, she was the Camden London Borough Councillor for Regent’s Park from 2010 until 2014. Political observers view the 41-year-old Tulip as part of a new generation of potential leaders within the Labour Party.
Having twice served in the shadow cabinet, Tulip is seen as a strong candidate for a cabinet position if she wins the upcoming election and if the Labour Party comes to power. Apsana Begum is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poplar and Limehouse since 2019. Begum was born in Shadwell, Tower Hamlets to Bangladeshi Muslim parents Manir Uddin Ahmed and Syeda Nazma Begum. Apsana was elected MP in the last election, defeating a candidate from the Conservative Party by about 29,000 votes.Begum is a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group of MPs. She is also the UK’s first MP to wear a hijab.
Among the four MPs of Bangladeshi origin, Apsana spends the most time at various meetings of the Bangladeshi community.
Rupa Asha Huq
Rupa Asha Huq is a British Labour Party MP, columnist and academic.
Elected as the MP for Ealing Central and Acton in the 2015 general election, she previously served as a senior lecturer in sociology at Kingston University.
Rupa was born in Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, Hammersmith and grew up on Brunswick Road in Ealing.
father, Muhammad Huq, and mother, Rowshan Ara Huq, both residents of Pabna, moved to Britain from East Pakistan in the 1970s.
Rupa Huq is well-regarded both inside and outside her constituency for her approachable demeanor.
What Labour Party leaders think
On Friday, Labour Party leader and Councillor Mohammed Islam of London’s Croydon Council said that the Labour Party is leading in all the opinion polls for the upcoming election in Britain.
British politicians of Indian and Pakistani origin have been ministers in Britain’s Cabinet, but none of Bangladeshis have been made ministers yet. About 1.5 million Bangladeshis living in Britain have regrets about this, he added.
“We are hopeful that if the current four MPs of Bangladeshi origin from the Labour Party are re-elected, and if the party comes to power, that regret will be alleviated.”
Ohid Ahmed, former deputy mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, reflected on his own political journey, saying: “I have been involved in British politics for nearly four decades. The Labour Party granted me an MP ticket about 30 years ago.”
About 1.5 million Bangladeshis in Britain expect that for the first time, a British Bangladeshi politician will be represented in the cabinet, he added.
Meanwhile, two British Bangladeshi politicians are also included in the Labour Party’s candidate list for seats in West Ham and Beckton and Rochdale constituencies in London.