LONDON: Newly elected British-Pakistani Labour MP Naushabah Khan has said she decided to enter politics to fight for the causes of justice, inspired by her Pakistani father and his activism while he was alive.
Naushabah said, “The first call I got was from my phupho [father’s sister] in Pakistan right after my victory was announced. My relatives have been calling me non-stop to congratulate me. It’s amazing.”
On July 4, the seats of Gillingham and Rainham turned red as Labour ousted the Tories, with Naushabah Khan emerging as a significant winner. Naushabah, whose parents are from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, defeated Rehman Chishti, who had been winning this seat since 2010 and worked as an assistant to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
Naushabah scored 15,562 votes for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, which won a landslide victory across the nation, while Chishti, the incumbent since 2010, came in second with 11,590 votes.
The seat had been held by the Tories since 2010 but was a key target for the Labour Party. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launched the party’s election campaign in Gillingham in May, with Naushabah by his side.
In 2019, Chishti, the son of a local imam with parents from Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir, won the constituency for the Conservatives with a 15,000-vote majority. When asked how it felt to win the seat from another politician of Pakistani descent, Naushabah said, “It was all about politics. People said they are fed up with the Tory rule, they said they have had enough. They said our healthcare system, economy, roads, schools, and their lives are broken. They needed change and freedom from the Tory rule of inefficiency.”
Naushabah emphasized that most of her voters are English and voted for a Pakistani-heritage woman to end nearly 15 years of Tory rule. She shared that her family is ecstatic about her victory, especially her mother, who is still emotional and in shock. Naushabah’s father, who passed away during COVID-19, inspired her with his values of bravery, hard work, and fighting for justice.
Naushabah called on the younger generation of Pakistanis, Muslims, and Asians to join politics and take ownership. She said: “This is our country. We belong here. The new generation generally thinks politics doesn’t work for them but that’s not true, they should come forward and find solutions and be part of the system.”
