Elham Asaad Buaras
One hundred young aspiring politicians and activists convened in London with seven Muslim MPs and peers, including former Chancellor Sajid Javid last month as part of an inaugural event designed to increase Muslim political participation.
The event, which featured a Muslim audience of 18-to 35-year-olds from across the country, was co-organised by The Muslim News and MMK Academy, a non-partisan institution that works to increase the political awareness of youths from marginalised communities.
Titled “My Path to Westminster: Inspiring Young Muslims to Enter Parliament” and chaired by Channel 4 News journalist Fatima Manji, the event was hosted on February 22 by Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, in the Speaker’s House Chamber.
During their brief presentations, parliamentarians outlined their entry into politics, their career challenges, and the importance of Britain’s Muslims engaging in politics. Following the presentations, participants interacted one-on-one with the parliamentarians at a reception.
Sir Hoyle opened proceedings, which included a question-and-answer session, by telling attendees that the discussion of the political underrepresentation of British Muslims was “long overdue.”
“Greater understanding comes when we are more diverse, and the House of Commons has a record number of MPs from ethnic backgrounds and more women than ever before. Our best estimate is that there are now 19 Muslim MPs out of an elected body of 650 MPs. That is just not enough.”
Mohammad Mahdi Karim, the founder of the MMK Academy, highlighted the significance of “a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between British Muslims and British democracy.”
Karim said that although 6.5% of the UK population identified as Muslim, “only 3 per cent of MPs” were of that religion. “It is really important for parliaments to represent the people they serve. Substantive representation is the cornerstone of all democracies. It is what gives them legitimacy. When people have a voice around the table, they feel they can trust the system.”
He concluded that political apathy and disillusionment among British Muslims make politics “a problem.” “When you have people, not of your background making rules on your behalf, you’re letting them write your destiny,” he said. “So, to reclaim the ability to write your destiny, we must ensure that more Muslims enter this space.”
Yasmin Qureshi, 59, the Labour MP for Bolton Southeast since 2010, and the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, described how, as a teenager in Watford, a visit from local councillors to her school ignited her interest in politics.
Qureshi was invited to canvass. “I knocked on doors. We had the usual range of responses: some people wanted to engage; others slammed doors on you or said get lost. And there were those, of course, who had pleasant discussions with you.
That prompted me to join the Labour Party.” It was her ability as a Labour member to convince Labour councillors to secure women’s-only access to a local swimming pool, said Qureshi, which demonstrated the power of political participation. “You might say that’s a very tiny thing, but it was a big thing for all of us to be able to swim and enjoy ourselves.”
Mohammed Afzal Khan, 64, who—like Qureshi—is Pakistan-born, has been the MP for Manchester Gorton since 2017 and a former MEP for Northwest England. He discussed his political career, which included being elected as a Labour councillor in 2000 and becoming the first Muslim Lord Mayor of Manchester.
He rhetorically asked the audience, “Why should you be involved in politics? One is that if you’re not at the dining table, you’re on the menu. The second is that you can’t score if you’re not playing football.”
Former Innovation Minister Lord Syed Kamall, who is of Indo-Guyanese origin, broke many barriers during his 14 years as an MEP, becoming the first non-white leader of the Conservative Party and any pan-European political group in the European Parliament.
Lord Kamall, 56, appointed to the House of Lords in 2021, told the delegates to consider their motivations before embarking on political careers.
On selecting which political party to join, he warned that “you will not agree with every single policy of your party.” Adding, “You will find that you either find a party you agree with a lot, or you choose a party that you disagree with the least with; whichever party you’re in, I hope others are honest about this.”
He also urged budding politicians to reflect during times of doubt. “It’s those quiet moments when you are sitting in the masjid, after your prayer, and you’re reflecting, or that quiet moment, ask yourself if there is something bothering you, and you will get the answer.”
His advice is to include loved ones in career decision-making. “I’ve seen people who’ve done things in politics, and it’s broken up their marriage and family life.” And it was that fear of disturbing his family life, says Lord Kamall, that recently led him to turn down a government position. “I spoke to my wife about it, and she said if you want to do it, do it. But I knew deep down that she didn’t want me to do it. I didn’t do it because you’ve got to balance your life.”
Afzal Khan MP, Anum Qaiser MP and Yasmin Qureshi MP, (Credit: Ayaz Ali/The Muslim News/MMK)
Finally, he warned, “You may not be lucky enough to get elected.” So, make sure you pursue another career. But you can pursue another career at the same time. It’s not that difficult to get involved and join a party. And people will see how talented you are. And they will put you forward for public office.”
Anum Qaisar, a 30-year-old SNP politician who has been the MP for Airdrie and Shotts since 2021, said that she got into politics because of the 9/11 terrorist events and the ensuing concerns about her identity and her experiences with Islamophobia.
“My birthday is September 11. I will remember 9/11 as clearly as if it were yesterday. I walked into the house. My mom was crying while watching aeroplanes crash into towers on TV. I was nine years old and didn’t care about the news. I wanted to see what presents I had. But eventually, my parents sat me down. But I said, ‘They’re in New York, miles away; it’s not going to impact me, surely.’”
“But it certainly did. The next day at school, I got asked if my family were terrorists. I was told that I was from the P**i family and that my skin colour was dirty. I asked my parents why? Since I’m as Scottish as anyone else. I knew that in the evenings I would go to mosque classes, while on Sundays, my friends would go to church. However, in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t see myself as different from anyone else. That day, however, I realised there was a distinction.
“Months later, my local mosque was set on fire, followed by an Islamophobic attack. Again, I thought, I’m just a wee girl living in Scotland; why is this going to impact me? But it did. And it made me angry, because I’m as Scottish as anyone else, and it upset me. And that’s probably what made me angry.” And it’s that anger, says Qaisar, that fuelled her passion to pursue politics, a drive she says people must find “even before looking at political parties. I think that’s important.”
Saqib Bhatti, MP for Meriden and Vice Chair of the Conservative Party with responsibility for business, explained that he entered politics relatively late, having completed a law degree before working as a chartered accountant.
“As I ran my family business, I got involved with the Chamber of Commerce, and I was the youngest ever president of the Asian Chamber of Commerce and then the youngest president of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
It was his business acumen that, in 2015, caught the attention of Lord Hannan (then an MEP), who convinced Bhatti to join the “Leave” campaign. Bhatti later founded the group Muslims for Britain, which campaigned for the UK to leave the EU during the Brexit referendum.
“I had no idea how this was going to turn out. I just wanted a voice for British Muslims on immigration, which was going to be a big thing. I knew a lot of the British Muslim community cared; we cared about the future of the country and its sovereignty. And within a month of launching, we went national.”
He continued, “I was asked to be on the board to vote to leave with the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, etc. If you asked me how far I was from being a member of parliament, I would probably say in 2016, about ten years. By 2017, I was helping run the political campaign for Andy Street while also managing my business and the Chamber of Commerce. I would have said that was maybe five years away.”
“At the start of 2019, I would have predicted it was probably two years away. Then, in October 2019, I put my hat in the ring for Meriden, and I was elected with a majority of about 23,000 votes. You get involved in politics and have a voice. Diversity of thought is essential. It makes us a better parliament and makes us stronger.”
Sajid Javid, 53, the first Muslim MP to hold three of the UK’s great offices of state — the Home Office, the Exchequer, and the Health Department—said that although the panel of parliamentarians present were all Muslims, “We’re not in politics solely because we are Muslims or because we only think about Muslim issues. We think about all communities, whether they are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or of no faith.”
Javid, who will end his political career in the next general election, said his parents’ journey from Pakistan to the UK for a “better life for their children” had motivated him to start it.
He also credited growing up in a “loving family”, which he attributed to helping him rise to political office. He also said his usage of readily available public services, such as schools, hospitals, and libraries, served as an example of “how politics can change lives.”
He was also motivated by witnessing Margaret Thatcher tackle national challenges, but “not to go straight into politics. I wanted to venture into something else first, but eventually, I wanted to turn to politics, and that’s what I did.”
(L-R) Lord Qurban Hussain, Sajid Javid MP, Lord Syed Kamall and Afzal Khan MP (Credit: Ayaz Ali/The Muslim News/MMK)
Addressing the challenges, Javid encouraged the young audience not to get discouraged by the “people who will try to put you off.” Recalling how in 2009, as he attempted to secure a seat, he was told, “You’re a banker in a banking crisis, you’re not white, and you’re Muslim. You’ve got no chance of getting elected.”
“Yet I got selected for a seat in Bromsgrove, which is 99 per cent of white, with hardly any Muslims in the constituency. There’s no mosque, but when I got selected by the local Conservative Party, no Muslims were members of the Conservative Party, and I got 70 per cent of the vote. What people look for is someone who’s going to be good and who represents them; if they happen to be a Muslim, it’s not an issue.”
He closed his speech by emphasising how far ahead Britain is in representation when compared to its European counterparts.
“Our country is by no means perfect. Is there racism out there? Of course, there is, but we are so far ahead, as a multiracial democracy. And if you can think of a country like France, which has more Muslims—almost three times the number of Muslims that Britain has—how many prominent Muslim politicians do you know in France at any level? I can pick from so many countries throughout Europe. In Britain, we’ve got something special, and we can make it even better. But that’s up to you.”
Liberal Democrats politician Lord Qurban Hussain, 66, was created a life peer as Baron Hussain of Luton in 2011 during the Cameron–Clegg coalition government. He served as a diversity advisor to Nick Clegg, then deputy premier.
He described his “journey to parliament” as “slightly different.”
“I came to this country at the age of 15 from a very rural area in Kashmir, Pakistan, with very little knowledge of English from my parents.”
Lord Hussain spoke of the challenges of dropping out of school at age 16 with no qualifications and being forced to work in a factory with his father.
“I told myself, ‘You’re not going to work as a labourer in this factory forever. You’ve got to do something to change this.’ So, I went around asking people more educated than me. How do I get out of this? I found a teacher who said, ‘You haven’t done the basic CSEC.’”
Lord Hussain’s path to politics started in the volunteer sector in the early 1980s, when he co-founded the Kashmiri Youth Project, which became one of the largest youth groups in Rochdale.
Lord Hussain joined the Trade Union Movement and served as secretary for Luton TUC from 1994 until 1996. He was firstly a member of the Labour Party, from 1996 to 2003, but then joined the Liberal Democrats in protest over the Labour government-backed invasion of Iraq. “I sat in front of the television and cried all night. And when morning came, I resigned from the Labour Party.”
Ahmed J. Versi, Editor of The Muslim News, closed the event by telling the audience, “I hope that what you heard from politicians on their journey into politics has helped you decide whether you would like to participate in politics.”
Photo: Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, hosted the event in the Speaker’s House Chamber. Photo 2: Lord Qurban Hussain, Sajid Javid MP, Lord Syed Kamall, Afzal Khan MP, Anum Qaiser MP, Yasmin Qureshi MP, Saqib Bhatti MP, and Channel 4 News journalist Fatima Manji, who chaired the event.
(Credit: Ayaz Ali/The Muslim News/MMK)
The Q&A for “My Path to Westminster” event will be published in the next issue
