Afzal Khan (British politician)
Manchester Gorton (2017–2024)
8 June 2017 – present
Shadow portfolios | |
---|---|
2023 | Exports |
2021–2023 | Legal Aid |
2020–2021 | Deputy Commons Leader |
2020 | South Asia, Africa and Commonwealth |
2017–2020 | Immigration |
for North West England
13 June 2014 – 8 June 2017
for Cheetham
4 May 2000 – 6 May 2015
(1958-04-05) 5 April 1958 (age 66)
Jhelum, West Pakistan, Pakistan
Mohammed Afzal Khan, CBE (Urdu: محمد افضل خان; born 5 April 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Rusholme, previously Manchester Gorton, since 2017.[2]
He was formerly Lord Mayor of Manchester for 2005–2006, and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2014 to 2017.
Early life and education
Mohammed Khan was born on 5 April 1958 in Jhelum, Pakistan, before coming to the UK aged 11. After leaving school without any qualifications, he had a number of jobs, including as a police officer for Greater Manchester Police, a labourer and bus driver.[1] He returned to education at Abraham Moss College[3] and got a degree in law from Manchester Polytechnic before qualifying as a solicitor in 1996.[1][4]
Political career
Khan started his political career in local government before moving to the European Parliament and then the Parliament of the United Kingdom after becoming an MP in the 2017 United Kingdom general election.
Local government
Khan was first elected a Labour councillor in 2000,[5] being re-elected in 2004, 2007 and 2011, representing Cheetham Ward. He served as Executive Member for Children's Services.[6][7]
From 2000 to 2004, Khan was a member of the Department of Trade and Industry's Ethnic Minority Business Forum,[8] advising the then Secretary of State, Patricia Hewitt.
Khan became the first Muslim Lord Mayor of Manchester, taking the position for 2005–2006.[4][9][10][11][12]
Following the 2005 London bombings, he became a member of a Home Office working group aimed at preventing extremism.[13]
In 2008, Khan was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his work on race relations.
He has also served as Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain[14] and is its North West representative.[15][16]
In 2011, Khan was suggested as a candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth. In 2012, he was a potential candidate for the Bradford West by-election but lost the nomination to Imran Hussain, who was defeated by Respect Party candidate, George Galloway.
European Parliament
Khan was selected in February 2013 on the Labour Party's list for North West England at the European Parliamentary election of 2014[17] and, on 22 May 2014, he was returned as MEP to the European Parliament to represent North West England.
In January 2016, Khan was appointed by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament as Special Representative to Muslim Communities.[18] In this function, Khan visited Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Denmark for work with local Muslim communities and invited groups of young Muslims to the Parliament.[19]
Parliamentary career
In March 2017, Khan applied to be Labour's candidate in the 2017 Manchester Gorton by-election[20] and was officially selected on 22 March.[21] Prior to the election, he said "I condemn the statements made by Ken Livingstone and I believe there is no place for anti-Semitism in the Labour Party." He added, "I have been a lifelong campaigner against racism and anti-Semitism. In 2008, I was awarded a CBE in part for my work encouraging greater understanding between Muslims and Jews. I intend to continue this work if I am elected as MP for Manchester Gorton."[22]
The by-election was cancelled following the dissolution of Parliament for the early general election on 8 June 2017.[23] Khan was elected to Parliament as MP for Manchester Gorton with 76.3% of the vote and a majority of 31,730.[24] In July 2017, Khan was appointed Shadow Immigration Minister.[25][26]
In March 2018, Khan received a suspicious package containing an anti-Islamic letter and sticky liquid. The substance was later found to be harmless. Similar packages were received by fellow Labour MPs Mohammad Yasin, Rushanara Ali and Rupa Huq.[27][28]
In July 2019, Khan apologised for having shared on Facebook two years earlier a video of American comedian Jon Stewart talking about Benjamin Netanyahu. The text under the video referred to an "Israel-British-Swiss-Rothschilds crime syndicate" and "mass murdering Rothschilds Israeli mafia criminal liars". Khan said he was "mortified", adding "I didn't read the text below, which contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy about the Rothschilds. I would never have shared it if I had seen that".[29]
At the 2019 general election, Khan was re-elected with an increased vote share of 77.6% and a decreased majority of 30,339.[30]
From August 2020 to 2022, Khan served as parliamentary chair for the Labour Muslim Network.[31]
In the September 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Exports.[32] One month later Khan resigned from the frontbench to vote for a Scottish National Party (SNP) motion demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.[33]
Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Khan's constituency of Manchester Gorton was abolished, and replaced with Manchester Rusholme. At the 2024 general election, Khan was elected to Parliament as MP for Manchester Rusholme with 51.9% of the vote and a majority of 8,235.[34]
Personal life
Khan is married to Dr. Shkeela Kayani[1] with who he has one son and two daughters.[3] One of his daughters, Maryam, served as a councillor for Longsight on Manchester City Council.[35]
References
- ^ a b c d e Anon (2017). "Khan, (Mohammed) Afzal". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U266569. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Manchester Rusholme - General election results 2024". BBC News.
- ^ a b Anon (2005). "City picks first Asian Lord Mayor". bbc.co.uk. BBC.
- ^ a b "My work space". The Guardian. 27 August 2005.
- ^ "Local election results 2011". Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "The Executive Members in 2019 / 2020 | The Members of the Executive | Manchester City Council". www.manchester.gov.uk.
- ^ "Afzal Khan meets Sheikh Sultan".
- ^ "The challenge for ethnic businesses". Asian Business Review.
- ^ "Praise for Asian mayor". South Manchester Reporter. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ Khan, Afzal. "Mayor of the Year". Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ Khan, Afzal. "Former Lord Mayor Receives CBE Award".
- ^ Khan, Afzal. "Afzal Khan Receives 'Spirit of Britain' Award".
- ^ "Preventing Extremism Together" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2012.
- ^ "Afzal Khan". Salaam.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ "Founding signatories". Unite Against Fascism. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ "Ajmun Ruler receives Lord Mayor Afzal Khan". 2005.
- ^ Williams, Jennifer (28 February 2013). "Former mayor of Manchester Afzal Khan in European election race". men.
- ^ "S&D appoints Special Representative for EU Muslims". 26 January 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "A Europe beyond politics: Rediscovering our humanity is the way forward". New Europe. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Updated: The activists aiming to be Labour's next MP in Manchester Gorton - LabourList". 15 March 2017.
- ^ Williams, Jennifer (23 March 2017). "North west MEP Afzal Khan selected as Labour candidate for Gorton by-election". men. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ Williams, Jennifer (5 April 2017). "Labour by-election candidate condemns claims by Ken Livingstone that Hitler supported Zionism". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ^ "Manchester Gorton by-election cancelled because of general election". BBC News. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll". Manchester City Council. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ "Reshuffle 2: The Maintenance of the Malcontents". New Socialist. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "Jeremy Corbyn appoints 20 MPs to Labour's front bench". Labour Press. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "Third MP gets Islamophobic letter". BBC News. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Elgot, Jessica (13 March 2018). "Four Muslim MPs receive suspicious packages at Westminster". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Box, Dan (26 July 2019). "Shadow minister's 'anti-Semitism' apology". BBC News.
- ^ "Blackley & Broughton Parliamentary constituency". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Afzal appointed Parliamentary Chair of Labour Muslim Network. Afzal Khan (2020-08-05). Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ^ "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Labour frontbenchers quit to back Gaza ceasefire motion". BBC News. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ "Manchester Rusholme results".
- ^ "Could it be Minister Maryam?". Manchester Evening News. 14 August 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012.
External links
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Manchester Gorton 2017–2024 | Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Manchester Rusholme 2024–present | Incumbent |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by Tom O'Callaghan | Lord Mayor of Manchester 2005–2006 | Succeeded by James Ashley |
- v
- t
- e
- Labour Party
- Parliamentary Labour Party
- List of Labour Party MPs
- Luke Akehurst
- Lewis Atkinson
- Jonathan Brash
- Alan Campbell
- Mark Ferguson
- Emma Foody
- Mary Foy
- Mary Glindon
- Sharon Hodgson
- Ian Lavery
- Emma Lewell-Buck
- Andy McDonald
- Chris McDonald
- Lola McEvoy
- Catherine McKinnell
- Grahame Morris
- Joe Morris
- Luke Myer
- Chi Onwurah
- Kate Osborne
- Bridget Phillipson
- Sam Rushworth
- David Smith
- Alan Strickland
- Anna Turley
- Liz Twist
- Debbie Abrahams
- Mike Amesbury
- David Baines
- Paula Barker
- Lorraine Beavers
- Elsie Blundell
- Phil Brickell
- Markus Campbell-Savours
- Dan Carden
- Lizzi Collinge
- Andrew Cooper
- Ashley Dalton
- Samantha Dixon
- Peter Dowd
- Angela Eagle
- Maria Eagle
- Maya Ellis
- Kirith Entwistle
- Bill Esterson
- Paul Foster
- James Frith
- Andrew Gwynne
- Sarah Hall
- Mark Hendrick
- Jonathan Hinder
- Patrick Hurley
- Kim Johnson
- Mike Kane
- Afzal Khan
- Josh MacAlister
- Andy MacNae
- Justin Madders
- Alison McGovern
- Jim McMahon
- Anneliese Midgley
- Julie Minns
- Navendu Mishra
- Connor Naismith
- Lisa Nandy
- Charlotte Nichols
- Matthew Patrick
- Jo Platt
- Lucy Powell
- Yasmin Qureshi
- Connor Rand
- Angela Rayner
- Jonathan Reynolds
- Marie Rimmer
- Tim Roca
- Sarah Russell
- Oliver Ryan
- Michelle Scrogham
- Josh Simons
- Cat Smith
- Jeff Smith
- Sarah Smith
- Graham Stringer
- Derek Twigg
- Christian Wakeford
- Paul Waugh
- Chris Webb
- Andrew Western
- Michael Wheeler
- Hilary Benn
- Clive Betts
- Olivia Blake
- Jade Botterill
- Sarah Champion
- Luke Charters
- Yvette Cooper
- Judith Cummins
- Nic Dakin
- Paul Davies
- Kate Dearden
- Anna Dixon
- Josh Fenton-Glynn
- Gill Furniss
- Louise Haigh
- Fabian Hamilton
- Emma Hardy
- John Healey
- Alison Hume
- Sally Jameson
- Dan Jarvis
- Diana Johnson
- Kim Leadbeater
- Simon Lightwood
- Rachael Maskell
- Keir Mather
- Ed Miliband
- Abtisam Mohamed
- Melanie Onn
- Stephanie Peacock
- Lee Pitcher
- Rachel Reeves
- Jake Richards
- Mark Sewards
- Naz Shah
- Alex Sobel
- Marie Tidball
- Jon Trickett
- Karl Turner
- Harpreet Uppal
- Katie White
- Catherine Atkinson
- Lee Barron
- Juliet Campbell
- Jonathan Davies
- Hamish Falconer
- Linsey Farnsworth
- Natalie Fleet
- Lilian Greenwood
- Amanda Hack
- Louise Jones
- Liz Kendall
- Gen Kitchen
- James Naish
- Samantha Niblett
- Alex Norris
- Michael Payne
- Jon Pearce
- Toby Perkins
- Mike Reader
- Lucy Rigby
- Jeevun Sandher
- Baggy Shanker
- Adam Thompson
- Michelle Welsh
- John Whitby
- Jo White
- Nadia Whittome
- Rosie Wrighting
- Steve Yemm
- Tahir Ali
- Alex Ballinger
- Antonia Bance
- Chris Bloore
- Sureena Brackenridge
- Julia Buckley
- Liam Byrne
- Alistair Carns
- Jacob Collier
- Tom Collins
- Sarah Coombes
- Mary Creagh
- Shaun Davies
- Cat Eccles
- Sarah Edwards
- Allison Gardner
- Preet Kaur Gill
- Jodie Gosling
- Paulette Hamilton
- Leigh Ingham
- Adam Jogee
- Gurinder Josan
- Warinder Juss
- Sonia Kumar
- Shabana Mahmood
- Pat McFadden
- Josh Newbury
- Taiwo Owatemi
- Jess Phillips
- Dave Robertson
- John Slinger
- Gareth Snell
- Rachel Taylor
- Laurence Turner
- Valerie Vaz
- Matt Western
- David Williams
- Jack Abbott
- Bayo Alaba
- Jess Asato
- Kevin Bonavia
- David Burton-Sampson
- Sam Carling
- Pam Cox
- Jen Craft
- Josh Dean
- Ben Goldsborough
- Chris Hinchliff
- Rachel Hopkins
- Terry Jermy
- Andrew Lewin
- Clive Lewis
- Alice Macdonald
- Alex Mayer
- Sarah Owen
- Andrew Pakes
- Peter Prinsley
- Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
- Alistair Strathern
- David Taylor
- Matt Turmaine
- Chris Vince
- Mohammad Yasin
- Daniel Zeichner
- Diane Abbott
- Rushanara Ali
- Rosena Allin-Khan
- Fleur Anderson
- James Asser
- Jas Athwal
- Calvin Bailey
- Danny Beales
- Rachel Blake
- Dawn Butler
- Ruth Cadbury
- Nesil Caliskan
- Bambos Charalambous
- Feryal Clark
- Ben Coleman
- Liam Conlon
- Deirdre Costigan
- Neil Coyle
- Stella Creasy
- Janet Daby
- Marsha de Cordova
- Clive Efford
- Florence Eshalomi
- Miatta Fahnbulleh
- Vicky Foxcroft
- Daniel Francis
- Barry Gardiner
- Georgia Gould
- Helen Hayes
- Meg Hillier
- Rupa Huq
- Natasha Irons
- Sarah Jones
- Uma Kumaran
- David Lammy
- Seema Malhotra
- Siobhain McDonagh
- Margaret Mullane
- James Murray
- Abena Oppong-Asare
- Kate Osamor
- Matthew Pennycook
- David Pinto-Duschinsky
- Joe Powell
- Steve Reed
- Ellie Reeves
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy
- Sarah Sackman
- Tulip Siddiq
- Andy Slaughter
- Keir Starmer
- Wes Streeting
- Gareth Thomas
- Emily Thornberry
- Stephen Timms
- Dan Tomlinson
- Catherine West
- Callum Anderson
- Olivia Bailey
- Alex Baker
- Polly Billington
- Beccy Cooper
- Chris Curtis
- Emily Darlington
- Tan Dhesi
- Jim Dickson
- Anneliese Dodds
- Helena Dollimore
- Rosie Duffield
- Lauren Edwards
- Sojan Joseph
- Satvir Kaur
- Naushabah Khan
- Peter Kyle
- Laura Kyrke-Smith
- Peter Lamb
- Amanda Martin
- Kevin McKenna
- Stephen Morgan
- Luke Murphy
- Tris Osborne
- Darren Paffey
- Richard Quigley
- Emma Reynolds
- Matt Rodda
- Tom Rutland
- Lauren Sullivan
- Peter Swallow
- Mike Tapp
- Tony Vaughan
- Chris Ward
- Sean Woodcock
- Yuan Yang
- Dan Aldridge
- Heidi Alexander
- Sadik Al-Hassan
- Matt Bishop
- Neil Duncan-Jordan
- Damien Egan
- Anna Gelderd
- Lloyd Hatton
- Tom Hayes
- Claire Hazelgrove
- Darren Jones
- Jayne Kirkham
- Noah Law
- Kerry McCarthy
- Alex McIntyre
- Perran Moon
- Dan Norris
- Simon Opher
- Luke Pollard
- Steve Race
- Karin Smyth
- Will Stone
- Fred Thomas
- Jessica Toale
- Tonia Antoniazzi
- Alex Barros-Curtis
- Torsten Bell
- Chris Bryant
- Alex Davies-Jones
- Stephen Doughty
- Chris Elmore
- Chris Evans
- Catherine Fookes
- Gill German
- Becky Gittins
- Nia Griffith
- Carolyn Harris
- Claire Hughes
- Gerald Jones
- Ruth Jones
- Stephen Kinnock
- Anna McMorrin
- Jessica Morden
- Kanishka Narayan
- Andrew Ranger
- Nick Smith
- Jo Stevens
- Mark Tami
- Nick Thomas-Symonds
- Henry Tufnell
- Steve Witherden
- Zubir Ahmed
- Douglas Alexander
- Scott Arthur
- Richard Baker
- Johanna Baxter
- Maureen Burke
- Irene Campbell
- Torcuil Crichton
- Graeme Downie
- Patricia Ferguson
- Alan Gemmell
- Tracy Gilbert
- John Grady
- Lillian Jones
- Chris Kane
- Brian Leishman
- Douglas McAllister
- Martin McCluskey
- Blair McDougall
- Gordon McKee
- Frank McNally
- Kirsty McNeill
- Chris Murray
- Ian Murray
- Katrina Murray
- Pamela Nash
- Gregor Poynton
- Joani Reid
- Martin Rhodes
- Michael Shanks
- Euan Stainbank
- Kenneth Stevenson
- Elaine Stewart
- Kirsteen Sullivan
- Alison Taylor
- Imogen Walker
- Melanie Ward