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Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Warsi

PC
Minister without Portfolio
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 May 2010
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byVacant
last held by Hazel Blears on 27 June 2007
Chairman of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byEric Pickles
Shadow Minister of State for Community Cohesion and Social Action
In office
2 July 2007 – 11 May 2010
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byTBD
Personal details
Born (1971-03-28) 28 March 1971 (age 53)
Dewsbury, United Kingdom
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Leeds

Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi (Urdu: سعیده حسین وارثی, born 28 March 1971) is a British lawyer and politician. A life peer and member of the Conservative Party, she is the current Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio in David Cameron's cabinet.

Biography

Baroness Warsi was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire in 1971 to Pakistani parents, who emigrated from Bewal, Gujar Khan, Pakistan. She is the second of five daughters. Her father, Safdar Hussain,[1] operates a bed manufacturing company, which earns £2 million a year, after starting life as a mill worker. She later said that her father's success led her to adopting Conservative principles.[2]

She was educated at Birkdale High School, Dewsbury College, and the University of Leeds, where she studied Law (LLB). She attended the York College of Law to complete her Legal Practice Course and trained with both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office Immigration Department.

After qualifying as a solicitor, she worked for John Whitfield – the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury – at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors. She then set up her own specialist practice in Dewsbury. She has also worked overseas for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan and in Kashmir as Chairman of the Savayra Foundation, a women's empowerment charity.

At the age of 19, Warsi was married to her cousin, Naeem, whom she met in Pakistan when she was 15. The marriage was arranged and they have one daughter, Aamna, 12.[3] They divorced in December 2007 after 17 years of marriage. On 20 August 2009 Warsi married Iftikhar Azam in a simple Nikah ceremony at her parents' detached property in Dewsbury followed by a wedding celebration attended only by close family. Shortly after, she was accused of "stealing" the husband of Mussarat Bi, 34, Azam's first wife and mother of four, who claimed she had been divorced without knowledge and was "devastated by his desertion". Sayeeda's side have dismissed the allegations in a statement made by Azam.[4]

Life Peer

Baroness Warsi was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Dewsbury at the 2005 General Election, becoming the first Muslim woman to be selected by the Conservatives. She lost that election by nearly 5000 votes. She has served as a special adviser to Michael Howard on Community Relations and was appointed by David Cameron as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party with specific responsibility for cities.

In its December edition, the New Statesman 'revealed' that the Baroness received support for her general election campaign from Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer.[5] According to the New Statesman's report, Warsi "welcomed Lord Ahmed's support".

On 2 July 2007 Baroness Warsi was appointed Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and a working peer.[6] Her peerage was conferred as Baroness Warsi, of Dewsbury in the County of West Yorkshire on 11 October 2007 and gazetted on 26 October 2007.[7][8] She is, by October 2007, the youngest member of the House of Lords.[9]

On 1 December 2007, Baroness Warsi travelled with Lord Ahmed to meet for talks with Sudanese officials and Ministers, in response to the jailing of an English teacher, Gillian Gibbons. Gibbons had been found guilty of insulting Islam, after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed. This had resulted in Gibbons' prosecution and a 15 day jail sentence. Although Baroness Warsi's and Lord Ahmed's meeting with the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir did not lead directly to Mrs Gibbons being pardoned, it is acknowledged that, along with the enormous efforts made by Gillian Gibbons's family, friends, and others, it may have indirectly contributed to her release.[10][11]

In government

On 12 May 2010 David Cameron appointed Baroness Warsi Minister without Portfolio when she succeeded Eric Pickles as Chairman of the Conservative Party. Her appointment makes Warsi the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet.[12]

Criticism

The gay rights organisation Stonewall, as well as several Labour politicians, questioned her suitability for a high-profile Conservative party role owing to leaflets issued during her 2005 election campaign which contained views which they claimed were homophobic. Some of her 2005 campaign leaflets claimed that Labour's lowering of the homosexual age of consent from 18 to 16 (under the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000) was "allowing schoolchildren to be propositioned for homosexual relationships",[13] and that homosexuality was being peddled to children as young as seven in schools.[14] On the subject, Baroness Warsi said that "I look back at lots of my election leaflets and think, 'God - why did I phrase it like that? What was I on?" adding "There was a whole team that was involved in my election leaflets. Looking back on it, maybe I could have used much better language than that", while adding her belief that sex education should be "out of the school system, initially".[13]

Other comments have also provoked anger, when she went on record saying that people who back the British National Party (BNP), may even have a point. "They have some very legitimate views. People who say 'we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities – we are concerned about immigration in our communities'".[15][16] On 22 October 2009 Baroness Warsi represented the Conservatives on a controversial edition of Question Time marking the first ever appearance of Nick Griffin leader of the BNP.[17] During that broadcast she strongly criticised the BNP, and when directly asked whether she was in favour of civil partnerships, replied "I think that people who want to be in a relationship together, in the form of a civil partnership, absolutely have the right to do that."[18]

On 30 November 2009 she was pelted with eggs by a group of Muslims whilst on a walkabout in Luton; the protesters accused her of not being a proper Muslim and of supporting the death of Muslims in Afghanistan. Baroness Warsi told the BBC that the men were "idiots who did not represent the majority of British Muslims". She later continued her walkabout with a police escort.[19]

Styles

  • Miss Sayeeda Warsi (1971–2007)
  • The Rt Hon. The Baroness Warsi (2007–2010)
  • The Rt Hon. The Baroness Warsi PC (2010–)

References

  1. ^ "Sayeeda Warsi: The Tory peer who never plays it safe". London: Independent.co.uk. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  2. ^ "Shadow Cabinet: Who's Who". BBC News. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. ^ Storer, Jackie (2005-07-19). "n Ms Warsi change the Tories?". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  4. ^ "Did this wife know she was being divorced - and husband was to wed top Tory Muslim?". Dailymail.co.uk. 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  5. ^ Labour peer urged support for Tories in 2005 election - New Statesman - 30 November 2006
  6. ^ Profile: Sayeeda Warsi - BBC News - 2 July 2007
  7. ^ New Members UK Parliament
  8. ^ You must specify date= when using {{London Gazette}}.
  9. ^ Members and principal office holders of the Lords UK Parliament
  10. ^ Teacher speaks of Sudan 'ordeal' - BBC News - 4 December 2007
  11. ^ Tory peer's triumph delights Cameron - The Guardian - 4 December 2007
  12. ^ "Cameron's cabinet: A guide to who's who". BBC. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  13. ^ a b 'Homophobic' leaflet used again by Tory candidate - Pink News - 11 July 2007
  14. ^ Adviser to Tory leader attacks gay sex laws - The Guardian, 27 April 2005
  15. ^ Sayeeda Warsi and the BNP Pickled Politics, 1 October 2007
  16. ^ Immigration... Immigration... Immigration: Cameron hoped to ignore it. But now it's back with a vengeance The Independent, 30 September 2007
  17. ^ John Plunkett "Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi confirmed for Question Time with BNP leader" The Guardian, 15 October 2009
  18. ^ Question Time, 22 October 2009
  19. ^ "Tory Muslim peer pelted with eggs". BBC News. 30 November 2009.
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Conservative Party
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister without Portfolio
2010–present 		Incumbent
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