Anas Sarwar
Anas Sarwar | |||||||||
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Leader of the Scottish Labour Party | |||||||||
Assumed office 27 February 2021 | |||||||||
Deputy | Jackie Baillie | ||||||||
UK party leader | Keir Starmer | ||||||||
Preceded by | Richard Leonard | ||||||||
Acting 24 October 2014 – 13 December 2014 | |||||||||
UK party leader | Ed Miliband | ||||||||
Preceded by | Johann Lamont | ||||||||
Succeeded by | Jim Murphy | ||||||||
Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party | |||||||||
In office 17 December 2011 – 13 December 2014 | |||||||||
Leader | Johann Lamont | ||||||||
Preceded by | Johann Lamont | ||||||||
Succeeded by | Kezia Dugdale | ||||||||
Shadow Minister for International Development | |||||||||
In office 5 November 2014 – 8 May 2015 | |||||||||
Leader | Ed Miliband | ||||||||
Preceded by | Alison McGovern | ||||||||
Succeeded by | Mike Kane | ||||||||
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Scottish Labour portfolios | |||||||||
2016–2018 | Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution | ||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||
Born | Glasgow, Scotland | 14 March 1983||||||||
Political party | Labour | ||||||||
Spouse |
Furheen Ashrif (m. 2006) | ||||||||
Children | 3 | ||||||||
Relatives | Mohammad Sarwar (father) | ||||||||
Education | Hutchesons' Grammar School | ||||||||
Alma mater | University of Glasgow | ||||||||
Signature | |||||||||
Website | anassarwar | ||||||||
Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a British politician who has served as
.Born in
Sarwar lost his seat to the
Early life and career
Anas Sarwar was born on 14 March 1983 in
Early political career
Sarwar began campaigning for the Labour Party as a child of "nine or ten" and joined the party at the age of fifteen or sixteen.
Sarwar was selected as the lead regional list candidate for the
Member of Parliament
Sarwar's father announced his retirement as the MP for Glasgow Central in February 2007.[11] Later that year, Sarwar was selected as the Labour candidate for the seat at the 2010 United Kingdom general election. Despite Labour's loss of power at that general election, Anas Sarwar emphasised his independence and differentiated himself from his father's politics. The Guardian described him as positioning himself on the "moderate left" of the Labour Party, supporting electoral reform for the House of Commons, reforming the House of Lords to have a majority of elected seats but with some seats remaining appointed, and reducing the scale of the UK's nuclear deterrant. He opposed privatisation of the NHS but supported the use of private finance initiative schemes to build schools.[3] He won the election with 52.0% of the vote, an increase on the previous vote share and majority.[12][13][14]
He was elected by colleagues to serve on the
From November 2014 until May 2015, Sarwar served as Shadow Minister for International Development.[21] In January 2015, he was awarded the Spirit of Britain Award at that year's British Muslim Awards.[22]
In 2012, he was appointed to co-ordinate Scottish Labour's 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign.[23] The campaign, alongside Better Together, was successful, with 55% of the electorate of Scotland voting to stay in the United Kingdom. The Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Johann Lamont, resigned from the position on 25 October 2014, criticising the attitude of the Labour Party as a whole to the Scottish Labour Party and saying that Scottish Labour needed to be more autonomous. The Guardian reported that she felt like she needed to resign after the general secretary of Scottish Labour, Ian Price, was "removed from office without her being consulted".[24] Several Scottish Labour figures echoed her frustrations. Sarwar defended the UK-wide Labour Party, and said that Price "resigned from his position as general secretary and I think we should respect his position".[24] Following the resignation of Johann Lamont on 25 October 2014, Sarwar became acting leader until the new leader, Jim Murphy, was elected. On 30 October, he announced his resignation as deputy leader. At the 2015 general election, Sarwar lost his seat to Alison Thewliss of the SNP. Following that election, in what was a historic defeat for Labour, they were left with a single seat (Edinburgh South) after half a century of political domination of Scottish seats at Westminster.[25]
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Sarwar was elected as an additional member in the
In September 2017, he announced he would run for the Scottish Labour leadership following the resignation of Kezia Dugdale.[28] He was characterised by opponents as being on the right of the Labour Party and a Blairite, which he repudiated, describing himself as a Brownite.[29] He called the Iraq War "the worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime".[30] He expressed support for UK-wide Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's policies of "a £10 national living wage, public ownership of the railways, higher taxation for the rich and tougher laws on basic wages and employment rights".[29] He proposed a tax rate of 50p for earnings over £100,000 and cuts to income tax for earnings under £28,000, including a new 15p tax rate for lower earners.[31] His campaign emphasised equality over discussions of independence.[5] He defended sending his children to a private school, saying he and his wife had done what they "thought was best for [their] children".[29] Sarwar was criticised by opponents after it emerged that his family firm was advertising job vacancies with pay below the recommended living wage.[32][33] His opponent in the election, Richard Leonard, was on the left wing of the Labour Party. Leonard won the election with 56.7% of the vote. During the 2017 leadership election, Rutherglen councillor Davie McLachlan allegedly said "Scotland wouldn't vote for a brown Muslim Paki". In April 2019, Sarwar's case against McLachlan was due to be heard by the National Constitutional Committee but was dropped on a technicality, as Sarwar had not given his case within the required timescale. Leonard acknowledged the process was flawed and the committee would need to be reformed to avoid similar incidents.[34]
Sarwar was replaced as health and sport spokesperson by Monica Lennon in October 2018.[35] He said he had only learnt of the sacking on the social media platform Twitter.[36] In November 2019, Sarwar was given access to a leaked report from 2015 which had considered infection controls at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to be at "high risk". 10-year-old patient Milly Main died in the hospital in 2017 from a water infection, while she was there to recover from leukaemia. Sarwar raised the leaked report's findings in a Scottish Parliament debate in which he criticised NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for not closing certain hospital wards despite the report's findings. He requested on behalf of Main's mother, a constituent of his, a response from the first minister Nicola Sturgeon.[37] In November 2020, Sarwar was appointed as Scottish Labour's spokesperson for the constitution.[38]
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
Following the resignation of Richard Leonard in 2021, Sarwar was
As the leader of Scottish Labour in the run-up to the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Sarwar pledged to reduce poverty and inequality in Scotland as part of his policy solutions to the aftermath of COVID-19 crisis.[45] In the run-up to the election, the Labour Party removed Hollie Cameron, a Labour candidate who said in an interview that Labour would support a second referendum on Scottish independence depending on timing, contrary to the party's policy. Sarwar was criticised for the decision by figures on the left of the Labour Party.[46]
Sarwar himself ran as both a list candidate and as constituency candidate for
In January 2022, it was reported that the UK-wide Labour leader Keir Starmer was interested in allowing more supporters of independence to stand as Labour candidates. Sarwar said that candidates would need to stand on a platform of Scotland remaining in the UK, and that "when it comes to Scottish Labour, I’m in charge".[49] In March 2022, Sarwar announced a policy of providing free residential care and free home care, alongside increasing care workers' wages to a minimum of £15 an hour.[50] Sarwar supports replacing the House of Lords with an elected senate that would represent nations and regions.[51] In November 2022, Declassified UK said that Sarwar was a member of the lobbying group British-American Project.[52][unreliable source?] In the same month, in an interview with The Times, he talked about the need for growth in order to deliver policies that improve equality and reduce poverty.[53]
Personal life
Sarwar is married to Furheen Sarwar, who works as an NHS dentist. The couple have three young children.[54][55] He is a Muslim Punjabi Arain.[56][failed verification] He owns a quarter share of his family's cash-and-carry wholesale business; his share was valued in 2016 as worth between £2.7 million and £4.8 million.[57] In September 2017, Sarwar transferred his shareholding to a discretionary trust for the benefit of his three children, so that he could not personally access the assets or dividends.[55]
He is the president of the Sarwar Foundation, and is
See also
References
- ^ "Anas Sarwar". Democracy Live. BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ^ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ a b c d Carrell, Severin (3 August 2009). "Dynastic Glaswegian keen to prove he is his own man". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ a b c McGinnity, Paul (30 August 2010). "A question of politics". Scottish Dental magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "'Do people honestly think this is the easy road?' How Anas Sarwar became Scottish Labour leader". the Guardian. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Biography " Anas Sarwar MP | Working Hard for Glasgow Central". Anassarwar.org. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ Media, P. A. (27 February 2021). "Anas Sarwar: UK's first Muslim to lead a party follows in family footsteps". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Progress annual conference 2011 – Progress – News and debate from the progressive community". Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Biography « Anas Sarwar MP | Working Hard for Glasgow Central". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ Peterkin, Tom (18 December 2011). "Anas Sarwar is the brightest of the bright young things". The Scotsman. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ "Sarwar plans to stand down as MP". 22 June 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "The full story: Scotland's general election results". 6 May 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "UK Election results: Number of minority ethnic MPs almost doubles". the Guardian. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ Whitaker, Andrew (16 December 2012). "'I never thought I'd have to fight a political battle for my own country', says Labour MP". The Scotsman.
- ^ "Johann Lamont named new Scottish Labour leader". BBC News. 17 December 2011.
- ^ "Winners honoured at British Muslim Awards". Asian Image. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ Ponsonby, G.A. (17 November 2013). "Why Scotland needs a strong independent online news media". Archived from the original on 25 October 2014.
- ^ Edward, Rhiannon (14 November 2013). "Scots Labour MPs slammed after bedroom tax no-show". The Scotsman.
- ^ Hutcheon, Paul (26 January 2014). "Labour's deputy leader under fire for sending son to Glasgow private school". The Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Anas Sarwar given new Labour international role". The Herald. 5 November 2014.
- ^ "British Muslim Awards 2015 finalists unveiled". Asian Image. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ Ferguson, Mark (16 December 2012). "Anas Sarwar to co-ordinate Labour's Scottish Referendum Campaign". LabourList.
- ^ a b "Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar tries to heal rift with Westminster". the Guardian. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ "Election 2015 - BBC News". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ Sarwar, Anas (13 October 2017). "Anas Sarwar: Tackling austerity means we must stay in the single market forever". LabourList. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Radio 4 interview on 20 April 2023.
- ^ "MSP Anas Sarwar launches Scottish Labour leadership bid". BBC News. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ a b c "Scottish Labour candidate Anas Sarwar laughs off 'neoliberal Blairite' tag". the Guardian. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ Rampen, Julia (13 October 2017). "Scottish Labour leadership hopeful Anas Sarwar: "I'm the anti-establishment candidate"". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Scottish Labour leader contender targets high earners with tax plan". the Guardian. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ "Scottish Labour leadership: Anas Sarwar denies being 'one of the few'". BBC News. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Anas Sarwar criticised by Nicola Sturgeon over pay". BBC News. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ "Scottish Labour leader sacks two MSPs in 'purge' reshuffle". the Guardian. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ BBC Scotland (4 October 2018). "Sarwar and Baillie out in Scottish Labour reshuffle". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ "'Milly would be here' had Glasgow hospital followed advice". BBC News. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ PA Media (16 November 2020). "Anas Sarwar returns to Labour frontbench in reshuffle". STV News.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (27 February 2021). "Anas Sarwar elected as new leader of Scottish Labour Party". LabourList. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "MSP Monica Lennon joins Anas Sarwar in race to lead Scottish Labour". the Guardian. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (10 February 2021). "Sarwar: Scottish Labour's tax policies "will be more radical than Corbyn's"". LabourList. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Carrell, Severin (27 February 2021). "Anas Sarwar wins Scottish Labour leadership election". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Daisley, Stephen (27 February 2021). "Can Anas Sarwar save Scottish Labour?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ McGrath, Megan (5 May 2021). "Blog: Anas Sarwar, Leader of Scottish Labour". The Poverty Alliance. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Scottish Labour leader criticised over pro-independence candidate sacking". the Guardian. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ Hayes, Georgina (8 May 2021). "Scottish Labour records worst result since devolution but Sarwar optimistic party has 'credibility again'". The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ Davidson, Gina (1 March 2021). "Anas Sarwar reveals Labour frontbench to take party into election". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- )
- ^ "Scottish Labour leader pledges nearly £1bn to provide free care for older people". the Guardian. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ Stewart, Heather (4 July 2022). "Labour would scrap House of Lords, says Scottish party leader". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ Kennard, Matt (24 November 2022). "The secretive US embassy-backed group cultivating the British left". Declassified UK. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ "A question of politics". Scottish Dental magazine. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Anas Sarwar relinquishes shares in family firm". BBC News. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Sarwar, Anas (18 September 2017). "My Unionism will never be in doubt". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
- ^ Gordon, Tom (31 August 2017). "Labour frontrunner faces backlash over wealth, schooling and opposition to Corbyn". The Herald. Scotland. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Stephen, Phyllis (20 November 2020). "Church of Scotland makes significant contribution to Sarwar Foundation". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ McLaughlin, Mark (10 April 2021). "Covid in Scotland: Anas Sarwar dismisses Labour adviser's pub reopening push". The Times. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Anas Sarwar
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Video interview after winning his seat in 2010 Archived 5 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine at Catch21
- Son could replace retiring MP Sarwar, The Herald, 23 June 2007
- Election shows politics runs in the family, The Herald, 1 May 2007