On the 56th parliamentary election of the United Kingdom, which took place on the 7th of May this year, a total of eleven British citizens of Bangladeshi origin participated with nominations from three major political parties of the country. Among the candidates, Labour Party’s Rushanara Ali from Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, Rupa Huq from the constituency of Ealing, and Tulip Siddiq from Hampstead and Kilburn constituencyhave beenelected as the lawmakers of the British parliament.
Rushanara Ali
At the age of seven, Rushanara Ali moved to the East End of London along with her family. She was the first in her family to attend the prestigious Oxford University (St John’s College). There she studied Political Science, Economics and Philosophy.
Rushanara Ali has been elected lawmaker of the British parliament for the second time with roughly around 61% of votes defeating Conservative Party’s Matthew Smith. Back in the year of 2010, she was the first female Muslim woman to be elected as the MP of the parliament of the country. She was also the first Bangladeshi-origin citizen to be elected to the House of Commons. The Guardian has listed Rushanara as one of the most powerful Muslim women in Britain. Rushanara Ali has also contributed in different national and local media including The Guardian, Prospect magazine and Progress magazine by publishing articles on a variety of political issues. She also worked on Human Rights issues and was aResearch Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR).
On 26 September 2014, Rushanara resigned from the Labour because she didn’t like the idea of the Coalition government’s House of Commons in permitting further military action in Iraq. She justified her action by saying that she believed there was a genuine belief in Muslim and non-Muslim communities that military action would only create further bloodshed and further pain for the people of Iraq. The leader of the party, Ed Miliband appreciated her decision and praised her as someone with great ability and talent.
Dr. Rupa Huq
Dr. Rupa Huq was born in London in 1972.After she was done with Cambridge; she earned a doctorate at the University of East London, researching youth culture. She adopted her career as a lecturer at University of Manchester back in the year of 1998 when she moved to the city. She continuedbeing a lecturer there for about 6 years. Since September 2004, she has also served as a senior lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at Kingston University in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She also teaches Media and Cultural Studies.
Dr. Rupa Huq has regularly been contributing to The Guardian, New Statesman, Progress magazine and The Times Higher Education Supplement. She published her first book “Beyond Subculture: Youth, Pop and Identity in a Post-colonial World” which reflected her research specialism. Her second book, “Making Sense of Suburbia through Popular Culture”, was published in May 2012. She has also contributed to the book “What Next for Labour? Ideas for a New Generation”, published by Queensferry Publishing.
Dr. Rupa Huq was chosen as the Labour Party candidate for the UK 2015 General Elections on November 2, 2013. In this year’s election,she has defeated her closest rival, Angie Bray from the Conservative Party by polling around 43.2% of votes in her constituency. Earlier, she had become the deputy mayor of the London Borough of Ealing in 2010.
Tulip Siddiq
Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, granddaughter of Bangladesh’s founding President Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, was born in London on September, 1982. She started living in Hampstead and Kilburn at the age of 16 and had her schooling there. From the King’s College London, she obtained post-graduation in politics, policy and government.
At the age of only 16, Tulip joined the Labour Party of UK. She has notable contribution in many movements in Britain and in different corporate social responsibility initiatives for major British manufacturers.She has also worked for Amnesty International, the Greater London Authority, Philip Gould Associates, Save the Children, and Brunswick. She has campaigned for political parties internationally which includes a campaign for Barack Obama in 2008 US Elections.
Tulip became the first Bengali woman in Camden Council in May 2010 with responsibility for culture and communities which continued till May 2014. In July 2013, with the help of the votes by local party members, she became the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn constituency for the 2015 UK General Election. She was named as the ‘one to watch’ in British politics by The Guardian in December, 2014. In the British General Election 2015, Tulip Siddiq outperformed her rival from the Conservatives in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency with 23,977 votes.
These three ladies have glorified the image of Bangladesh in the face of the world. Both thePresident Abdul Hamid and the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulated Rushanara Ali, Dr. Rupa Huq and Tulip Siddiq for winning the British parliamentary elections. From Bangladesh Brand Forum, we wish them a prosperous journey ahead.
By Nafia Alam Maha
