Two women of Pakistan origin win in UK elections

[Adios Amigo]

LONDON: Two women of Pakistani origin have been declared winners in the British election, becoming the first Muslim women to become members of the House of Commons, reports APP.

Yasmin Qureshi, a 47-year-old barrister, held on to a Labour seat of Bolton, polling 18,782 votes against her Conservative rival’s tally of 15,827. She was contes- ting in place of Dr Brian Iddon, who has retired from politics.

Shabana Mahmood of Labour, an Oxford-educated barrister, was declared winner in the Birmingham Ladywood constituency, after bagging 19,950 votes. Her nearest rival — Ayoub Khan, a Liberal Democrat — polled 9,845 ballots. The seat was previously held by former international development secretary Clare Short.

A woman of Bangladeshi descent, Rushanara Ali, won the East London constituency of Bethnal Green & Bow with 21,784 votes. She wrested the seat from Respect Unity Coalition whose candidate Abjol Miah got 8,532 votes.

Sitting Labour MP and junior minister Shahid Malik lost his Dewsbury, northwest England, seat to his Conservative rival by a margin of only 1,526 votes. Simon Reevell won the seat with 18,898 votes.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Two women of Pakistan origin win in UK elections

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

Good to know

 

[Hyde]

well its not surprising for me. Bolton is a Muslim dominated area with large supporters of Labour party. I wonder even if they nominate a Monkey for this election he too would have won the seat.

Regarding second women descendant of Bangladesh, East London is heavily dominated by the South Asian countries and the large population in Bethnal Green, Bow and the White Chappel are bangalis. They have East London Mosque located in this area where the Azan (call for prayer) is recited on the loud speakers and probably the only mosque in London where you hear Azan outside Mosque.

Happy for the Muslim leaders but i don't think they are going to bring any changes in british parliament

 

[Isaq Khan]

well its not surprising for me. Bolton is a Muslim dominated area with large supporters of Labour party. I wonder even if they nominate a Monkey for this election he too would have won the seat.

Regarding second women descendant of Bangladesh, East London is heavily dominated by the South Asian countries and the large population in Bethnal Green, Bow and the White Chappel are bangalis. They have East London Mosque located in this area where the Azan (call for prayer) is recited on the loud speakers and probably the only mosque in London where you hear Azan outside Mosque.

Happy for the Muslim leaders but i don't think they are going to bring any changes in british parliament

Priti Patel is UK's first Gujarati woman MP

ASHIS RAY, TNN, May 8, 2010, 04.30am IST
LONDON: The House of Commons, the mother of modern parliaments, for the first time got a Gujarati woman — Priti Patel (Conservative) — as a member on Friday.

Apart from Priti, who triumphed by a massive margin at Witham, candidates of Indian origin in the British elections augmented their presence in the House. As the Opposition Conservative party gained at the expense of the governing Labour party to become the largest single formation, so did the British Indians in its ranks.

In two significant upsets, Alok Sharma in Reading West and Paul Uppal in Wolverhampton South West unseated Labour.

The former erased a 12% deficit from the 2005 elections to storm into the Commons. As anticipated, Valerie Vaz of Labour claimed a maiden victory at Walsall South to join her brother Keith of the same party who retained Leicester East in the British Parliament.

These Goan siblings become the first brother-sister amalgamation in the Commons since the 1950s.

With their victories, Valerie and Priti became the first women of Indian descent to enter Britain’s directly elected national legislature.

Patel’s success was no surprise as she had been granted a rock solid Tory constituency. Also, as expected, Virendra Sharma of Labour held on to Sikh-dominated Ealing Southall, as did Shailesh Vara of the Conservatives in Cambridgeshire North West. Both widened the gap between them and their respective rivals.

But really noteworthy is Marsha Singh’s achievement, who has uninterruptedly represented Bradford West — often referred to a little Pakistan — since 1992.

Ceaselessly, including on this occasion, his opponents have thrown contenders of Pakistan extraction at him. But the electorate has remained undeterred, rewarding him now with an increased majority.


Can u shed some light on Marsha Singh’s uninterrupted win in Bradford West (nicknamed little Pakistan) and the reasons for it.