Shabana Mahmood

Born in 1980, Shabana Mahmood grew up in Birmingham before reading law at Oxford and qualifying as a barrister. She was one of three female Muslim MPs to be elected in 2010, a first in UK history. Shortly following her election, Mahmood was appointed shadow home affairs minister in October 2010 and later shadow business minister. After the 2015 election, Mahmood was appointed shadow chief secretary to the Treasury under acting Labour leader Harriet Harman, but resigned in September that year upon the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader. In January 2014, Mahmood was nominated for Politician of the Year at the British Muslim awards. In January 2019, Mahmood defended her constituents’ concerns over LGBT lessons in primary schools amid protests outside school, although she condemned “homophobic banners, chanting and hostile protests”. In her constituency, Mahmood campaigns against car cruising and anti-social crime, for the increase of BAME blood and organ donation and to increase regulations on shisha bars across Birmingham. Mahmood’s majority broadly upheld in 2019 to well over 28,000, one of the largest winning margins in the West Midlands.