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Zarah Sultana

March 11, 2023

Zarah Sultana (born 31 October 1993)[1] is a British Labour Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election. A supporter of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she is on the left-wing of the Labour Party and the Chairperson of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.[2]

Zarah Sultana
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Coventry South
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byJim Cunningham
Majority401 (0.9%)
Personal details
Born (1993-10-31) 31 October 1993 (age 29)
Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Political partyLabour
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Campaign Group
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
Websitezarahsultana.com

Early life and education

Sultana was born in October 1993[2] in the West Midlands, and raised in Lozells, a working-class area of Birmingham, with three sisters.[3] She is a Muslim and is of Pakistani ancestry: her grandfather migrated from Thub in Dadyal, Kashmir to Birmingham in the 1960s.[4]

She attended Holte School, a non-selective community school,[5] before studying at King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for sixth form.[5] She then went on to study International Relations and Economics at the University of Birmingham.[6]

She joined the Labour Party in 2011, whilst studying for her A-levels, following the coalition government's decision to treble university tuition fees to £9,000.[7][8] Whilst at university, Sultana was elected to the National Executive Council of both Young Labour and the National Union of Students.[9]

Parliamentary career

Sultana was listed fifth of seven among the Labour candidates for the 2019 European Parliament elections in the West Midlands constituency, meaning that she would be elected if Labour received enough votes in the region to appoint five MEPs. She was not elected, as Labour won only one MEP in the constituency.[10][11]

In October 2019, she was selected as the Labour candidate for Coventry South,[2] after the incumbent Labour MP Jim Cunningham announced that he would stand down.[12] Her campaign was backed by Unite the Union, Momentum, the Fire Brigades Union, the Communication Workers Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union.[2] However, her selection was opposed by some local Constituency Labour Party (CLP) members, who preferred local candidates; one member would tell Jewish News in 2021 that the CLP was "remarkably moderate" in comparison to Sultana.[13][14] Sultana was elected at the 2019 general election, with a majority of 401 votes.[15]

During the 2019 election campaign, The Jewish Chronicle reported that in 2015, whilst she was a student, Sultana made social media posts from a subsequently deleted account which implied that she would celebrate the deaths of the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President George W. Bush and she supported "violent resistance" by Palestinians.[9] As a teenager, Sultana sent tweets telling someone whom she described as pro-Israel to "jump off a cliff" and compared the Holocaust to those who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Chechnya. In tweets, Sultana said her mother was displeased when she discovered her father was Jewish, and Sultana used slang phrases for white people—"YT" and "the white woman"—to describe some Jewish people.[16] Sultana apologised for the posts and stated that she no longer held those views and "wrote them out of frustration rather than any malice".[17][18] The Labour Party re-interviewed her as a consequence of the posts, but she remained the party's candidate.[19] After her election, The Jewish Chronicle reported on a further social media post made by Sultana in 2015, in which she stated that students supporting Zionism were "advocating a racist ideology...and champion[ing] a state created through ethnic cleansing, sustained through occupation, apartheid and war crimes."[20]

In her maiden speech, she decried "40 years of Thatcherism", criticised the effects of austerity, and voiced her support for a Green New Deal to combat climate change.[7][21] She joined the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group shortly after being elected[22] and in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for leader and Richard Burgon for deputy leader. Neither was elected.[23][24]

In January 2020, Sultana was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dan Carden, the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.[25] She was removed from this role by Keir Starmer when he became leader in April 2020.[26]

In December 2020, UNICEF announced that it would provide £25,000 to the charity School Food Matters so that vulnerable children and families in Southwark could be supplied with thousands of breakfast boxes over the Christmas school holidays. In parliament Sultana said that it was the first time UNICEF had been required to "feed working-class kids in the UK. But while children go hungry, a wealthy few enjoy obscene riches". She mentioned that Jacob Rees-Mogg is "reportedly in line to receive an £800,000 dividend payout this year". Rees-Mogg criticised UNICEF's action and called it "a political stunt of the lowest order". Sultana then sent Rees-Mogg a copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, writing inside "Jacob, it seems this wasn't on Eton's reading list. Merry Christmas, Zarah".[27][28]

In January 2021, Sultana called for prisoners to be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccinations, describing them as "a high risk setting for transmission" and as such, it would be a "humane approach to a completely disenfranchised population".[29]

In April 2021, Sultana was profiled by Marie Le Conte for Vogue magazine, along with her Labour colleagues Charlotte Nichols, Taiwo Owatemi, and Sarah Owen. She spoke about the abuse she receives as a Muslim and as a woman of colour, including death threats and being told to 'go back to her own country'. Sultana was described as "one of the most left-wing new Labour MPs" who had "made a name for herself as an outspoken critic of the Government".[3]

In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Sultana was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".[30]

On 24 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sultana was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures.[31] After receiving a death threat, she criticised what she described as "inaccurate" reports by the media for creating "an active danger to the safety of public figures, and threaten[ing] to narrow our democracy". In a statement to The Guardian she said that she "unequivocally condemned" the actions of the Russian government in Ukraine. She also criticised an anonymous Labour source who described the 11 MPs as a "mouthpiece for the Kremlin" and said that she had complained to party chair Anneliese Dodds about party sources disseminating "dangerous and irresponsible messages".[32][33][34]

In October 2022 Sultana was reselected as the Labour Party MP for her constituency after receiving 90% of the vote from six local branches of the party and support from all participating affiliate organisations.[35]

References

  1. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ a b c d Rodgers, Sienna (1 November 2019). "Labour organiser Zarah Sultana picked to fight Coventry South". LabourList.
  3. ^ a b le Conte, Marie (8 April 2021). "New House Rules: Meet The 4 Women MPs Reshaping The Labour Party". Vogue. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  4. ^ "For the first time ever, British parliament has more female Muslim MPs than male Muslim members | World | thenews.com.pk |".
  5. ^ a b Stretton, Rachel (3 December 2019). "Coventry South election candidate in the spotlight". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. ^ "About". Zarah Sultana MP. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b Segalov, Michael (23 January 2020). "Zarah Sultana MP: 'When I See Conservatives, I Think About All the Harm They've Caused'". Vice. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  8. ^ Sultana, Zarah (23 January 2020). "'The future is ours – it has to be': MP Zarah Sultana sets out her mission for change". gal-dem. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b Harpin, Lee (4 November 2019). "Exclusive: Labour MP hopeful said she would 'celebrate' deaths of Blair, Netanyahu". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  10. ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for the West Midlands| BBC News". BBC News. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  11. ^ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Mr Jim Cunningham". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Purge of the Corbynites: Four Labour MPs may face reselection battles".
  14. ^ "Labour Candidate Who Wanted To 'Celebrate' Death Of Tony Blair Faces Deselection". 7 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Coventry South". BBC News. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  16. ^ Doherty, Rosa (15 November 2019). "Labour candidate apologises for saying Zionists 'will not willingly assimilate with Palestinians'". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Labour Coventry South candidate Zarah Sultana apologises for 'celebrate deaths' post". BBC News. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  18. ^ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  19. ^ Stretton, Rachel (18 November 2019). "Coventry Labour candidate faces 're-interview' over tweets". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  20. ^ Harpin, Lee (24 January 2020). "Labour MP Zarah Sultana told student that 'privilege' allowed them to argue for Middle East peace". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  21. ^ "New Coventry MP Sultana, 26, uses first Commons speech to fire broadside for 'my generation'". Coventry Observer. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  22. ^ @zarahsultana (22 January 2020). "Proud to be in the Socialist Campaign Group meeting today for its official endorsement of @RLong_Bailey for Leader and @RichardBurgon for Deputy Leader. Now let's get these socialists elected! pic.twitter.com/2wndXTOOyU" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour leadership candidates". LabourList. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour deputy leadership candidates". LabourList. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  25. ^ @zarahsultana (28 January 2020). "I'm excited to join the Shadow International Development team, as @DanCardenMP's Parliamentary Private Secretary! The struggle to build a sustainable world for all – not just the super-rich – is close to my heart. That's the role Britain should be playing on the global stage" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  27. ^ Sleigh, Sophia (18 December 2020). "Rees-Mogg branded 'Scrooge' over controversial Unicef comments". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  28. ^ "MP sends the perfect Christmas gift to Jacob Rees-Mogg after Speaker's warning". The National (Scotland). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  29. ^ "'Prisoners should get priority for jabs' – MP – insidetime & insideinformation". 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  30. ^ ""We're calling on you to act now": read Stylist's open letter to Priti Patel about ending male violence against women and girls". Stylist. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  31. ^ Wearmouth, Rachel (24 February 2022). "11 Labour MPs threatened with suspension for signing Stop The War letter attacking NATO". Mirror. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  32. ^ "Labour MP blames media after death threat over Ukraine statement". The Guardian. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  33. ^ Eagleton, Oliver (1 April 2022). "Keir Starmer Never Had Any Plans to Make Peace With the Left". Jacobin. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  34. ^ Morris, Sophie (26 February 2022). "Labour MP Zarah Sultana receives death threat describing her as 'Putin's whore'". Sky News. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  35. ^ Knowles, Kate (12 October 2022). "Zarah Sultana "thrilled" at reselection as Coventry South MP". CoventryLive. Retrieved 14 October 2022.

External links

March 11, 2023
zarah, sultana, born, october, 1993, british, labour, party, politician, been, member, parliament, coventry, south, since, 2019, general, election, supporter, former, labour, leader, jeremy, corbyn, left, wing, labour, party, chairperson, socialist, campaign, . Zarah Sultana born 31 October 1993 1 is a British Labour Party politician She has been the Member of Parliament MP for Coventry South since the 2019 general election A supporter of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn she is on the left wing of the Labour Party and the Chairperson of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus 2 Zarah SultanaMPOfficial portrait 2019Member of Parliament for Coventry SouthIncumbentAssumed office 12 December 2019Preceded byJim CunninghamMajority401 0 9 Personal detailsBorn 1993 10 31 31 October 1993 age 29 Birmingham West Midlands EnglandPolitical partyLabourOther politicalaffiliationsSocialist Campaign GroupAlma materUniversity of BirminghamWebsitezarahsultana wbr com Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Parliamentary career 3 References 4 External linksEarly life and education EditSultana was born in October 1993 2 in the West Midlands and raised in Lozells a working class area of Birmingham with three sisters 3 She is a Muslim and is of Pakistani ancestry her grandfather migrated from Thub in Dadyal Kashmir to Birmingham in the 1960s 4 She attended Holte School a non selective community school 5 before studying at King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for sixth form 5 She then went on to study International Relations and Economics at the University of Birmingham 6 She joined the Labour Party in 2011 whilst studying for her A levels following the coalition government s decision to treble university tuition fees to 9 000 7 8 Whilst at university Sultana was elected to the National Executive Council of both Young Labour and the National Union of Students 9 Parliamentary career EditSultana was listed fifth of seven among the Labour candidates for the 2019 European Parliament elections in the West Midlands constituency meaning that she would be elected if Labour received enough votes in the region to appoint five MEPs She was not elected as Labour won only one MEP in the constituency 10 11 In October 2019 she was selected as the Labour candidate for Coventry South 2 after the incumbent Labour MP Jim Cunningham announced that he would stand down 12 Her campaign was backed by Unite the Union Momentum the Fire Brigades Union the Communication Workers Union and the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union 2 However her selection was opposed by some local Constituency Labour Party CLP members who preferred local candidates one member would tell Jewish News in 2021 that the CLP was remarkably moderate in comparison to Sultana 13 14 Sultana was elected at the 2019 general election with a majority of 401 votes 15 During the 2019 election campaign The Jewish Chronicle reported that in 2015 whilst she was a student Sultana made social media posts from a subsequently deleted account which implied that she would celebrate the deaths of the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President George W Bush and she supported violent resistance by Palestinians 9 As a teenager Sultana sent tweets telling someone whom she described as pro Israel to jump off a cliff and compared the Holocaust to those who died in Iraq Afghanistan Palestine and Chechnya In tweets Sultana said her mother was displeased when she discovered her father was Jewish and Sultana used slang phrases for white people YT and the white woman to describe some Jewish people 16 Sultana apologised for the posts and stated that she no longer held those views and wrote them out of frustration rather than any malice 17 18 The Labour Party re interviewed her as a consequence of the posts but she remained the party s candidate 19 After her election The Jewish Chronicle reported on a further social media post made by Sultana in 2015 in which she stated that students supporting Zionism were advocating a racist ideology and champion ing a state created through ethnic cleansing sustained through occupation apartheid and war crimes 20 In her maiden speech she decried 40 years of Thatcherism criticised the effects of austerity and voiced her support for a Green New Deal to combat climate change 7 21 She joined the left wing Socialist Campaign Group shortly after being elected 22 and in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election nominated Rebecca Long Bailey for leader and Richard Burgon for deputy leader Neither was elected 23 24 In January 2020 Sultana was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dan Carden the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development 25 She was removed from this role by Keir Starmer when he became leader in April 2020 26 In December 2020 UNICEF announced that it would provide 25 000 to the charity School Food Matters so that vulnerable children and families in Southwark could be supplied with thousands of breakfast boxes over the Christmas school holidays In parliament Sultana said that it was the first time UNICEF had been required to feed working class kids in the UK But while children go hungry a wealthy few enjoy obscene riches She mentioned that Jacob Rees Mogg is reportedly in line to receive an 800 000 dividend payout this year Rees Mogg criticised UNICEF s action and called it a political stunt of the lowest order Sultana then sent Rees Mogg a copy of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol writing inside Jacob it seems this wasn t on Eton s reading list Merry Christmas Zarah 27 28 In January 2021 Sultana called for prisoners to be prioritised for COVID 19 vaccinations describing them as a high risk setting for transmission and as such it would be a humane approach to a completely disenfranchised population 29 In April 2021 Sultana was profiled by Marie Le Conte for Vogue magazine along with her Labour colleagues Charlotte Nichols Taiwo Owatemi and Sarah Owen She spoke about the abuse she receives as a Muslim and as a woman of colour including death threats and being told to go back to her own country Sultana was described as one of the most left wing new Labour MPs who had made a name for herself as an outspoken critic of the Government 3 In May 2021 alongside celebrities and other public figures Sultana was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an epidemic of male violence by funding an ongoing high profile expert informed awareness campaign on men s violence against women and girls 30 On 24 February 2022 following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Sultana was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the alliance of eastward expansion All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures 31 After receiving a death threat she criticised what she described as inaccurate reports by the media for creating an active danger to the safety of public figures and threaten ing to narrow our democracy In a statement to The Guardian she said that she unequivocally condemned the actions of the Russian government in Ukraine She also criticised an anonymous Labour source who described the 11 MPs as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin and said that she had complained to party chair Anneliese Dodds about party sources disseminating dangerous and irresponsible messages 32 33 34 In October 2022 Sultana was reselected as the Labour Party MP for her constituency after receiving 90 of the vote from six local branches of the party and support from all participating affiliate organisations 35 References Edit Brunskill Ian 19 March 2020 The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 the definitive record of Britain s historic 2019 General Election p 158 ISBN 978 0 00 839258 1 OCLC 1129682574 a b c d Rodgers Sienna 1 November 2019 Labour organiser Zarah Sultana picked to fight Coventry South LabourList a b le Conte Marie 8 April 2021 New House Rules Meet The 4 Women MPs Reshaping The Labour Party Vogue Retrieved 15 July 2021 For the first time ever British parliament has more female Muslim MPs than male Muslim members World thenews com pk a b Stretton Rachel 3 December 2019 Coventry South election candidate in the spotlight Coventry Telegraph Retrieved 15 December 2019 About Zarah Sultana MP Retrieved 26 July 2020 a b Segalov Michael 23 January 2020 Zarah Sultana MP When I See Conservatives I Think About All the Harm They ve Caused Vice Retrieved 4 February 2020 Sultana Zarah 23 January 2020 The future is ours it has to be MP Zarah Sultana sets out her mission for change gal dem Retrieved 4 February 2020 a b Harpin Lee 4 November 2019 Exclusive Labour MP hopeful said she would celebrate deaths of Blair Netanyahu The Jewish Chronicle Retrieved 17 January 2020 2019 European elections List of candidates for the West Midlands BBC News BBC News 27 April 2019 Retrieved 28 April 2019 The UK s European elections 2019 BBC News Retrieved 16 April 2020 Mr Jim Cunningham Parliament of the United Kingdom Retrieved 17 January 2020 Purge of the Corbynites Four Labour MPs may face reselection battles Labour Candidate Who Wanted To Celebrate Death Of Tony Blair Faces Deselection 7 November 2019 Coventry South BBC News Retrieved 17 January 2020 Doherty Rosa 15 November 2019 Labour candidate apologises for saying Zionists will not willingly assimilate with Palestinians The Jewish Chronicle Retrieved 18 July 2021 Labour Coventry South candidate Zarah Sultana apologises for celebrate deaths post BBC News 4 November 2019 Retrieved 17 January 2020 Bond Daniel 16 December 2019 Class of 2019 Meet the new MPs Politics Home Retrieved 17 January 2020 Stretton Rachel 18 November 2019 Coventry Labour candidate faces re interview over tweets Coventry Telegraph Retrieved 17 January 2020 Harpin Lee 24 January 2020 Labour MP Zarah Sultana told student that privilege allowed them to argue for Middle East peace The Jewish Chronicle Retrieved 24 January 2020 New Coventry MP Sultana 26 uses first Commons speech to fire broadside for my generation Coventry Observer 16 January 2020 Retrieved 4 February 2020 zarahsultana 22 January 2020 Proud to be in the Socialist Campaign Group meeting today for its official endorsement of RLong Bailey for Leader and RichardBurgon for Deputy Leader Now let s get these socialists elected pic twitter com 2wndXTOOyU Tweet Retrieved 2 February 2020 via Twitter Rolling list MP MEP nominations for Labour leadership candidates LabourList 8 January 2020 Retrieved 17 January 2020 Rolling list MP MEP nominations for Labour deputy leadership candidates LabourList 8 January 2020 Retrieved 17 January 2020 zarahsultana 28 January 2020 I m excited to join the Shadow International Development team as DanCardenMP s Parliamentary Private Secretary The struggle to build a sustainable world for all not just the super rich is close to my heart That s the role Britain should be playing on the global stage Tweet via Twitter Rodgers Sienna 9 April 2020 Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench LabourList Retrieved 23 June 2020 Sleigh Sophia 18 December 2020 Rees Mogg branded Scrooge over controversial Unicef comments London Evening Standard Retrieved 19 January 2021 MP sends the perfect Christmas gift to Jacob Rees Mogg after Speaker s warning The National Scotland 19 December 2020 Retrieved 19 January 2021 Prisoners should get priority for jabs MP insidetime amp insideinformation 18 January 2021 Retrieved 21 January 2021 We re calling on you to act now read Stylist s open letter to Priti Patel about ending male violence against women and girls Stylist Retrieved 20 May 2021 Wearmouth Rachel 24 February 2022 11 Labour MPs threatened with suspension for signing Stop The War letter attacking NATO Mirror Retrieved 24 February 2022 Labour MP blames media after death threat over Ukraine statement The Guardian 26 February 2022 Retrieved 28 February 2022 Eagleton Oliver 1 April 2022 Keir Starmer Never Had Any Plans to Make Peace With the Left Jacobin Retrieved 13 April 2022 Morris Sophie 26 February 2022 Labour MP Zarah Sultana receives death threat describing her as Putin s whore Sky News Retrieved 13 April 2022 Knowles Kate 12 October 2022 Zarah Sultana thrilled at reselection as Coventry South MP CoventryLive Retrieved 14 October 2022 External links EditProfile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Contributions in Parliament at Hansard Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou Portraits of Zarah Sultana at the National Portrait Gallery LondonParliament of the United KingdomPreceded byJim Cunningham Member of Parliament for Coventry South2019 present Incumbent Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Zarah Sultana amp oldid 1140108050, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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