Dozen British Pakistanis Elected to UK Parliament in Elections 2017

Twelve British Pakistanis, including 5 women, have been elected members of parliament (MPs) in recent elections held in the United Kingdom, according to media reports.  Seven of them are members of the Labor Party and three belong to the Conservative Party. This sets a new record with the increase of two MPs from the May 2012 elections that resulted in the election of 10 MPs of Pakistani origin. British Pakistanis make up 1.8% of the British population, about the same as their representation in the House of Commons.

Six of the Twelve British-Pakistani MPs

British Pakistani MPs and Peers:

In addition to the 12 British Pakistanis in the House of Commons, there are 8 members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, bringing the total strength of British Pakistanis in the UK parliament to 20. Most of them are from very humble backgrounds in rural Pakistan. Majority of Pakistanis in the UK are from Mirpur and its surrounding villages in Azad Kashmir. They or their parents migrated to Britain when they were given compensation by Pakistani government for their land to make way for the building of the massive Mangla Dam after the signing of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan in 1960. Five of the twelve British Pakistani MPs in the new parliament are from Azad Kashmir. 

London Mayor Sadiq Khan:

Last year saw the election of Sadiq Khan as mayor of London, making him the first Muslim mayor of a major western capital city. Mayor Sadiq Khan is also of Pakistani-origin. Khan's father migrated to Britain in 1960s and worked as a London bus driver. Khan comes from a family of two generations of immigrants: His grandparents migrated from what is now India to the newly created state of Pakistan in 1947 and his parents migrated from Karachi to London in 1969. Sadiq Khan was born in London in 1970.

British Pakistanis' Struggles:

While the British Pakistanis have made some headway in the public sector in their new home, they continue to face discrimination, particularly in the private sector.  A 2016 study by the government’s Social Mobility Commission found that the "children of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin in Britain have outperformed other ethnic groups to achieve rapid improvements at every level of education, but are significantly less likely to be employed in managerial or professional jobs than their white counterparts".

The study said that the "minority ethnic pupils (including Pakistanis) are outperforming white working class children in English tests throughout school, with white British teenagers coming bottom of the pile in the subject at GCSE level".

British Pakistani Doctors: 

Pakistan is the second largest source of doctors of foreign origin serving in the United Kingdom, according to OECD. Indians make up 34% of the foreign doctors in Britain, followed by 11% from Pakistan.

Summary:

British Pakistanis have achieved significant success in spite of their humble origins and discrimination they face in their adopted home. 12 of them serve as members of the House of Commons and 8 in the House of Lords. Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, the first Muslim leader of a major western capital, is the son of a London bus driver who migrated from Pakistan. British Pakistani children are outperforming their white working class peers in schools. British Pakistani doctors are the second largest population of doctors of foreign origin in the United Kingdom.  The British Pakistanis are among the best of the Pakistani diaspora, or any diaspora, in the world.

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Comment by Riaz Haq on July 3, 2017 at 12:58pm

The Gapminder animations based on data compiled by Prof Hans Rosling show that life expectancy in Pakistan has jumped from 32 years in 1947 to 67 years now, and per Capita inflation-adjusted PPP income has risen from $766 in 1948 to over $5,000 now. http://www.gapminder.org/tools/#_locale_id=en;&chart-type=bubbles

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2018 at 8:53am

Son of #British #Pakistani bus driver Sajid Javid appointed #Britain’s home secretary. Another son of #British #Pakistani bus driver Sadiq Khan is mayor of #London. #Pakistan

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1699074/3-pakistan-origin-sajid-javid-...

LONDON: Sajid Javid was appointed as Britain’s home secretary on Monday after Amber Rudd resigned over her handling of immigration policy.

Here are some facts about the new, 48-year-old home secretary:

Javid campaigned to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, even though a few months before the vote he said his “heart” was for Brexit. After the result, he said: “We’re all Brexiteers now.”
He was the first member of Britain’s South Asian minority to be given a full-time post in the cabinet when he was appointed culture minister in 2014. His father moved to Britain from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver in Bristol.
Before starting his career in politics, Javid worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and for Deutsche Bank, helping to build its business in emerging markets.
Javid cites the late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher as his political inspiration, and has often hung a portrait of her in his ministerial office.
In 2016, Javid supported the former work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb as a candidate to replace then-prime minister David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party in return for a promise to be appointed finance minister. Crabb’s bid ultimately foundered when he failed to secure enough votes.
New interior minister has drive, determination: PM May’s spokesperson

Javid has shown drive, ambition and determination to get to grips with difficult subjects, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesperson said.

British-Pakistani MP removed as UK’s business secretary

Describing Javid as one of the most experienced ministers around the cabinet table, the spokesperson said he would need those skills in his new job.

The spokesperson said no further ministerial changes were expected after Javid’s and two other appointments were announced earlier.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 17, 2018 at 10:26am

#British #Pakistani, 40 year old Jabbar Riaz, becomes youngest mayor of Worcester, #England, 
#UK

https://www.geo.tv/latest/195873-british-pakistani-becomes-youngest...

BIRMINGHAM: A British Pakistani councilor has made history by taking oath as the youngest mayor of the historic English city of Worcester.

Councillor Jabbar Riaz, 40, who was also the deputy mayor of the city in 2017/18 was elected for the third consecutive term successfully after defending his seat representing Labour party from Cathedral ward in the recent local elections.

Cllr Riaz, whose family is originally from Dadyal, Azad Kashmir, is also the second British Pakistani to be elected as the mayor of Worcester. Cllr Allah Ditta of Conservative party was the first British Pakistani mayor of this city back in 2004.

Cllr Riaz also started his political career with the Conservative party and was elected as a councilor from Cathedral ward for the first time in 2010. 


Around 250 British-Pakistanis elected in May 3 local elections in England

But in 2013 he left Tories for the Labour party due to the policies of the central government of then PM David Cameron. After a tough battle in 2014 local elections, he succeeded again but this time as a Labour councilor with a slim majority of just 198 votes. 

In 2017, Cllr Riaz resigned from the cabinet where he was in charge of leisure services due to family commitments. In these elections, Cllr Riaz won again from Cathedral ward by beating fellow Pakistani Nida Hassan, who was representing Conservative party but with a much clearer majority of 292 votes. 

Nida Salman is the niece of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, senior PML-N politician and speaker of Pakistan’s national assembly.


Mayor of Worcester CllrJabbar Riaz with his father Mohammed Riaz, mother, wife Sajeeda Begum, Sons Sami Riaz & Isa Riaz, niece Romana Ali and other members of the family. Photo: Geo News
Cllr Riaz in his maiden speech as the new mayor of Worcester said that he feels proud and humbled. He thanked the residents of his ward, friends, family and especially his parents and wife who not only voted for him but also supported him through the election period. 

As the mayor, he represents the whole city and he is grateful to Almighty Allah for honoring him with this position.

“My Mayoral theme this year will be ‘Love not Hate’ and it is especially fitting this year as we mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice day where people from across the commonwealth fought and died,” said Cllr Riaz told Geo News.

He further added that his aim is to unite and bring communities together under the banner of peace. The Brexit vote has seen hate crime rise and attacks increase and my aim is to educate and spread the message of kindness, dispel myths and break down barriers.

The Mayoral oath-taking ceremony took place in city’s historic Guildhall during a full council meeting, which was attended by the fellow councilors, family, and friends along with other members of the public.

Cllr Jabbar Riaz’s father Mr. Mohammed Riaz, who was also in politics and was elected as councilor from the same Cathedral ward from 2004-10 representing Conservative party, said that it is an absolutely a proud moment for not only him or the family but for the whole community.

“More Pakistani youngsters should be encouraged to take part in local politics as their future lies in this country. Young generation should join the British political parties so they can serve this country and their community,” added Mohammed Riaz.

Cllr Riaz, Sajeeda Begum, who is also the Mayoress now said that her husband has worked extremely hard not only in the recent local election but throughout his career as councilor and this is the next step ahead for him. 

"It’s absolutely wonderful that as the representative of Muslim community he is now the second Muslim mayor of this city," she said.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 15, 2019 at 9:11pm

A little lad from a remote village in #Pakistan went on a remarkable journey - he's now #Manchester first citizen—-as Lord Mayor. #England #UK - Manchester Evening News

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-new...


Manchester’s new lord mayor has been sworn in - marking a long journey from a remote village in Pakistan.

Longsight councillor Abid Latif Chohan grew up in the Punjab region of Pakistan before moving to Manchester to work as a lawyer.


He said it was a ‘huge honour’ to take on the prestigious role and the he looked forward to serving the city.

Coun Chohan vowed to help make Manchester a 'fairer and more inclusive place to live and work'.

He took up the chains from Coun June Hitchen, who said the past year had been a 'wonderful journey'.

She told the town hall's latest full council meeting: “Our city is truly remarkable. I can’t thank you enough.”


Paying tribute to outgoing mayor Coun Hitchen, colleague Pat Karney - the town hall's city centre spokesman and Harpurhey representative - said he was ‘awestruck’ by her ascent from a 15 year-old machinist in Miles Platting to becoming the town hall's ceremonial chief.

He said: “I do think young women and girls - 10, 20, 50 years from now - will read your story and take pride and admiration in what you have achieved.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 11, 2020 at 2:03pm

#Coronavirus: #British-#Pakistani doctors saving lives in both countries. Dr Akhtar is an intensive care unit consultant in #Britain's #NHS. He's using #telemedicine to share his experiences with counterparts in his country of birth, #Pakistan. #COVID19 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53282823

"We are very proud of the NHS service we are giving here," Dr Akhtar said. "And because of our relationships both in medicine and otherwise, it was very important for us to help our colleagues and to help the people of Pakistan."

Dr Akhtar told the BBC the huge number of coronavirus cases meant that even in the UK it was not possible for intensive care doctors alone to treat seriously ill patients - doctors from different specialties also had to be drafted in. In Pakistan, the difficulties would be amplified, he said, making it useful for those doctors to have "someone they can talk to, someone they can take advice from".

Dr Muhammad Ashraf Zia, who heads the Covid-19 ICU in Jinnah Hospital, told the BBC it was "very useful" to exchange ideas with Dr Akhtar - even though he is a senior doctor himself, as coronavirus is such a new disease. He said his team had begun using certain medicines to treat patients that they previously had not, and they were now producing "very good results".

There have been about 250,000 coronavirus cases and 5,000 deaths recorded in Pakistan. That's substantially lower than in Britain, where more than 44,000 people have died, even though it is likely fatalities in Pakistan have been undercounted.

However, Pakistan has far fewer doctors per capita than the UK, and at times hospitals there have been stretched. According to the World Health Organization, there are under 10 medical doctors per 10,000 of the population in Pakistan, about three times fewer than in the UK.

Dr Suhail Chughtai, another UK-based doctor of Pakistani origin, built the telemedicine software used to connect to the intensive care unit in Lahore. The software allows doctors to talk via video link and exchange copies of case notes as they speak. His aim was "to plug the gap" in Pakistan caused by a relative lack of intensive care specialists, by "importing" those doctors from the UK via telemedicine, he said.

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 3, 2022 at 8:28pm

Boris Johnson's #British #Pakistani policy chief Munira Mirza resigns. She quit over PM's false claim that Opposition Leader Keir Starmer failed to prosecute serial sex offender Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions. #BorisTheLiar https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60250036

Boris Johnson's top policy aide has quit over the PM's false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute serial sex offender Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.

The PM made the remark on Monday as he came under attack over Sue Gray's report on Downing Street parties.

He later backed down, saying said the Labour leader "had nothing to do personally with those decisions".

Another senior aide, Jack Doyle, has also quit as communications director.

Munira Murza said the PM he should have apologised for the misleading remarks.

In her resignation letter, published by The Spectator, she wrote: "You are a better man than many of your detractors will ever understand, which is why it is so desperately sad that you let yourself down by making a scurrilous accusation against the leader of the opposition."

-----------

Mirza's family came to the United Kingdom from Pakistan; her father found work in a factory while her mother was a housewife and taught Urdu part-time. Mirza was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, North West England and had two older brothers and an older sister. She went to Breeze Hill School until 16, then moved to Oldham Sixth Form College for her A-levels. She was the only pupil in her Sixth Form college to gain a place at Oxford University, studying English Literature at Mansfield College, graduating in 1999. She then completed an MA in Social Research in 2004 and a PhD in Sociology in 2009, both at the University of Kent.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 13, 2022 at 9:47am

None of the UK’s top jobs is held by a White man for the first time. But British politics remains unequal, experts say


https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/uk/liz-truss-diverse-cabinet-uk-gbr-...


New British Prime Minister Liz Truss has assembled the most ethnically diverse Cabinet in the United Kingdom’s history, with several top jobs given to Black and other minority ethnic lawmakers.

For the first time ever, none of the holders of the country’s four so-called “Great Offices of State” – the prime minister, the chancellor and the home and foreign secretaries – is a White man.

Kwasi Kwarteng, who will take charge of the UK’s dire economic situation as chancellor, was born in London after his parents migrated from Ghana in the 1960s; the mother of James Cleverly, the new foreign minister, came to the UK from Sierra Leone, while incoming Home Secretary Suella Braverman has Kenyan and Mauritian parents.

No other G7 country can claim such diversity at the heart of government and it reflects a rapid rise in the number of minority ethnic politicians to the top tables of British politics in the past decade.

But experts say this fact can obscure other prevalent inequalities in the UK’s political system.

Critics fear the continuation of a series of divisive Conservative government policies towards refugees, asylum seekers and disadvantaged communities, and some have pointed to the class and educational backgrounds of the country’s new Cabinet as a symbol of Britain’s most defining political gulf.

“It’s extremely significant and it’s an extraordinary rate of change,” Sunder Katwala, the director the the British Future think tank that focuses on issues of immigration, integration and national identity, said of the make-up of Truss’s new Cabinet.

But “these are more diverse political elites,” he told CNN. “It’s a meritocratic advance for people who have done well in education, law and business. It’s not an advance on social class terms.”

“It’s absolutely fantastic that we have a more diverse House of Commons, set of parties and government, in terms of gender and in terms of ethnicity,” said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University and the author of books on the Conservative Party.

“But it does hide the fact that we have an ongoing disappearance of working-class people from politics, and that has knock-on effects in terms of policy and turnout.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 23, 2022 at 7:36am

Ali Ahmed Aslam, 77, Credited With Inventing Chicken Tikka Masala, Dies
A Glasgow restaurateur, he was part of the rise of the British curry house — and played an essential part in its story.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/dining/ali-ahmed-aslam-dead.html

Ali Ahmed Aslam, the Glasgow restaurateur who was often credited with the invention of chicken tikka masala, died on Monday. He was 77.

His son Asif Ali said the cause was septic shock and organ failure after a prolonged illness. He did not say where Mr. Aslam died.

Much like Cartesian geometry, chicken tikka masala was most likely not one person’s invention, but rather a case of simultaneous discovery — a delicious inevitability in so many restaurant kitchens, advanced by shifting forces of immigration and tastes in postwar Britain.

Many cooks claimed that they were the ones who served it first, or that they knew a guy who knew the guy who really did. Others insisted it wasn’t a British invention at all but a Punjabi dish. None of those stories seemed to stick.

Instead, the bright tomato-tinted lights of fame shone on one man: Mr. Aslam, who immigrated to Glasgow from a village outside Lahore, Pakistan, when he was 16, and who opened the restaurant Shish Mahal in 1964.

What seems to have established Mr. Aslam as the inventor of the dish was an unsuccessful 2009 bid by the Scottish member of Parliament Mohammad Sarwar to have the European Union recognize chicken tikka masala as a Glaswegian specialty. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Aslam explained that he had added some sauce to please a customer once, and you could almost hear him shrug.

In Aslam family lore, it was a local bus driver who popped in for dinner and suggested that plain chicken tikka was too spicy for him, and too dry — and also he wasn’t feeling well, so wasn’t there something sweeter and saucier that he could have instead? Sure, why not. Mr. Aslam, who was known as Mr. Ali, tipped the tandoor-grilled pieces of meat into a pan with a quick tomato sauce and returned them to the table.

“He never really put so much importance on it,” Asif Ali said. “He just told people how he made it.”

Chicken tikka masala became so widespread that in 2001 Robin Cook, the British foreign secretary, delivered a speech praising the dish — and Britain for embracing it.

“Chicken tikka masala is now a true British national dish,” Mr. Cook said, referring to a survey that had placed it above fish and chips in popularity. “Not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences.”

Mr. Aslam was born into a family of farmers, in a small village near Lahore. As a teenager, newly arrived to Glasgow in 1959, he took a job with his uncle in the clothing business during the day and cut onions at a local restaurant at night.

Mr. Aslam was ambitious, and he soon opened his own place in the city’s West End. He installed just a few tables and a brilliantly hot well of a tandoor oven, which he learned to man in a sweaty process of trial and error. He brought his parents over from Pakistan; his mother helped to run the kitchen, and his father took care of the front of the house.

In 1969, Mr. Aslam married Kalsoom Akhtar, who came from the same village in Pakistan. In Glasgow they raised five children. In addition to his son Asif, his survivors include his wife; their other children, Shaista Ali-Sattar, Rashaid Ali, Omar Ali and Samiya Ali; his brother Nasim Ahmed; and his sisters Bashiran Bibi and Naziran Tariq Ali.

Chicken tikka masala boomed in the curry houses of 1970s Britain. Soon it was more than just a dish you could order off the menu at every curry house, or buy packaged at the supermarket; it was a powerful political symbol.

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 27, 2023 at 7:20am

37 year old practicing #Muslim #British #Pakistani Humza Yousaf wins race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as #Scotland's next leader. Humza was born in #Glasgow. His father was born in Mian Channu #Pakistan and his mother was born in #Kenya | Reuters


https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/scotlands-next-leader-be-announced...

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Scottish nationalists picked Humza Yousaf to be the country's next leader on Monday after a bitterly fought contest that exposed deep divisions in his party over policy and a stalled independence campaign.

The 37-year-old practicing Muslim will succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the governing Scottish National Party (SNP) and, subject to a vote in the Scottish parliament, take over as head of the semi-autonomous government.

Yousaf's victory was confirmed at Edinburgh's Murrayfield rugby ground on Monday afternoon after a six-week campaign where the three candidates spent much of the contest criticising each other's record in a series of personal attacks.

The SNP's unity, which had been one of its strengths, broke down over arguments about how to achieve a second independence referendum and the best way to introduce social reforms such as transgender rights.

Yousaf takes over a party with an overriding objective to end Scotland's three-centuries-long union with England.

But while about four in 10 Scots still support independence, according to a poll this month, the departure of Sturgeon - a charismatic and commanding leader - may slow some of the momentum behind a break up of the United Kingdom.

There is no agreed strategy for how to force a new referendum - one of the reasons Sturgeon resigned.

The often bad-tempered leadership contest has relieved some pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is dealing with divisions in his own party, waves of industrial action and high levels of inflation.

FRONTRUNNER
Yousaf won 24,336 of the votes of the SNP's members in the first round, while his main rival Kate Forbes 32, Scotland's finance minister, came second with 20,559 votes. Ash Regan, who quit the government because of her opposition to proposed changes to gender recognition, was third with 5,599 votes.

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 27, 2023 at 5:21pm

Watch: Muslim politician in a kilt swears oath in Urdu to British queen

By Ishaan Tharoor
May 13, 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/13/watch-...

https://youtu.be/NE_J8wzo6ko

In an emphatic demonstration of British multiculturalism, a Muslim politician elected to Scottish parliament delivered his oath of allegiance in Urdu while wearing a kilt.

Humza Yousaf, a member of the Scottish National Party who won a seat from the city of Glasgow, spoke first in English and then in the language linked to his Pakistani heritage, swearing "that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth" and concluding with "so help me God."

His party championed Scotland's unsuccessful bid for independence in 2014, framing its nationalism not on ethnic identity but on the desire for a distinct, diverse nation to have greater control over its affairs. The SNP now dominates politics in Edinburgh and has a sizable bloc of seats in Westminster as well.

On Twitter, Yousaf laughed off the predictable backlash to his oath from those fearful of the role of Islam in British society.

Yousaf was not the only politician to take the oath in another language: Other members of Scottish parliament spoke in local tongues such as Doric, Gaelic and Scots.

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