Sadiq Khan: British Pakistani Trailblazer

Ishtiaq Ahmed

London: It is a point of much pride to see politicians of Pakistani origin featuring prominently on the British political landscape.

There are, for example, around 250 elected councillors on various district and Borough Councils and 15 members in the elected chamber of the British Parliament (10 Labour, 5 Conservatives), while the likes of Baroness Warsi provide powerful voices in the upper chamber, the House of Lords.

British Pakistanis have travelled much distance in the politics of the UK since 1985, when Mohammed Ajeeb CBE was elected as the First Asian Muslim Lord Mayor of Bradford.

The 15 British Pakistanis elected to the Parliament include 10 labourers: Imran Hussain and Naz Shah—Bradford; Khalid Mehmood—Birmingham; Yasmin Qureshi—South Bolton; Afzal Khan—Manchester; Tahir Ali—Birmingham; Mohammed Yaseen—Bedford; Zahra Sultana—Coventry; Shabana Mahmood—Birmingham; and Rozina Ali-Tooting.

There are also five members of the present conservative government: Nusrat Ghani-Wealdon; Imran Ahmed-Bedfordshire; Rehman Chishti-Gillingham; and Saqib Bhatti-Meriden Therefore. Collectively they represent a powerful voice.

The influence of British Pakistani politicians in Scotland is even more visible with Hamza Yousaf being the First Minister and Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, with the opportunity and aspirations to become the next First Minister.

But the highest achiever has to be Sadiq Aman Khan, the British born of Pakistani parents and the current second-time elected Mayor of London, the capital city of the UK and the world’s premier financial hub.

In ranks, Sadiq Khan is perhaps the most influential politician after the prime minister and, in some respects, even more significantly influential.

Born into a Pakistani family, Sadiq Khan’s rise to fame and influence from a working-class background is an example of his tenacity and application, refusing to be held back by the meagreness of his social status and other structural inequalities in the party political structures.

It is a ‘never die’ attitude that has propelled a son of a working-class family to such heights in society, laden with deep-rooted racist and Islamophobic undercurrents. The path for Sadiq Khan could not have been easier, yet he continued to push ahead and progress.

Sadiq Khan was born on October 8, 1970 in a working-class Muslim family. He was the fifth of eight children, seven of whom were male. His grandparents had migrated from the Muslim cultural city of Lucknow to Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947. His parents, Aman Ullah and mother Sehrun, arrived in London in 1968.

Sadiq Khan and his sibling grew up in a three-room flat in a social housing estate in Earlswood. He attended the local primary school and went on to Earnest Bevin, a local comprehensive school, eventually graduating as a lawyer from the University of North London.

He went on to specialise in human rights issues.

Sadiq Khan’s political career started as a councillor for the London Borough of Wandsworth from 1994–2005. He was elected as a member of Parliament in the 2005 general election.

In and outside Parliament, he strongly opposed and criticised the decision by Tony Blair’s Labour government to invade Iraq and the anti-terrorist legislation, which he strongly felt unfairly targeted the British Muslim communities.

With the departure of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown became the Prime Minister and appointed Sadiq Khan as the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and in 2008, he became the Minister of State for Transport.

When Ed Miliband became the leader of the Labour Party, Sadiq Khan was given the roles of shadow secretary state for justice, shadow Lord Chancellor, and shadow minister for London.

Thereafter, Khan was elected Mayor of London in 2016, defeating the conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith and accordingly resigned as MP.

He is now serving his second term as mayor of the great city.
As the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is known for supporting the expansion of City and Gatwick airports and the introduction of congestion-free charges on older, polluting vehicles driving in the city.

In 2018, The Time’s 100 list of the most influential, Khan was named as being the most influential in the world. Khan has been praised for making London transport more accessible and reducing pollution in the city.
Whereas Sadiq Khan continues to show the way, across the country, the contribution of British Pakistanis to British society is vast and varied in fields of medicine, commerce, arts and cultures, and philanthropy.

There are also emerging some very powerful civic leaders. Interestingly, British Pakistani women are leading the development. This is how it should be.

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