BORN in Lambeth to immigrant parents, Lord Tariq Ahmad has packed an extraordinary array of jobs and roles into a 30-year career that has encompassed banking, finance, marketing, local politics, national politics and, currently, international politics.
As Boris Johnson’s minister of state to the United Nations, south Asia and the Commonwealth and his special envoy on Freedom of Religion and Belief, he has become something of a global statesman and is rarely at home, it would seem. With the Russia-Ukrainian war breaking out at the time of going to press, Lord Ahmad was tweeting about the government’s latest efforts to isolate Russia and increase its support of Ukraine.
He made a speech to the UN in New York on February 23 about the crisis, and told the assembly that Britain stood with Ukraine and its people. But his timelines wasn’t all about this European-cum-global crisis.
As a minister with responsibility for what goes on in central and south Asia, Afghanistan remains high on the agenda. The Taliban’s rule continues to pose challenges there – Britain’s charges d’Affaires in the UK Mission to Afghanistan Hugo Shorter complained about the ruling administrations’ “cleansing operations” and said there “were totally unacceptable and had to stop” – Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon to give his full title, backed the statement which also revealed that the Taliban were discouraging foreign travel of its citizens abroad and telling its women they could not go abroad without a male guardian accompanying them.
His last major trip to the subcontinent and reported by the government was his three-day visit to Bangladesh to mark the country’s Golden Jubilee of Independence in November 2021.
The UK government said it was looking to establish friendly relations for the next 50 years ahead. Lord Ahmad announced a big programme of educational investment – up to £54m – looking to help girls and those from disadvantaged groups get into higher education. Partners included Unicef and the World Bank.
He said: “Educating girls is one of the smartest investments we can make to fight poverty and save lives. I announced new UK funding of up to £54m to support education in Bangladesh, with a focus on ensuring all children, but especially girls and those with disabilities, have access to a high-quality education. Increasing access to literacy and skills will bring benefits to children and their families and will drive Bangladesh’s continued economic growth.”
His last major trip to India was in March 2021 – it was supposed to pave the way for the prime minister’s ground-breaking talks on some form of a trade deal with India and a face-to-face meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi – but it fell through as coronavirus worsened in India.
Much of this minister’s five-day talks at that time surrounded climate change and he visited Chennai and there were also some discussions on vaccine production with the world’s largest such facility located in Pune in western India and subsequently helping with UK stocks.
He also visited Pakistan on a two-day trip in June 2021. He met prime minister Imran Khan and he went to Lahore too and emphasised the need to work together to tackle Covid and climate change.
The global pandemic may have affected his ability to travel, but thanks to Zoom and virtual conferencing, Lord Ahmad has made influential pronouncements in a wide range of topics. Speaking in person to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last February, he said the UK would place the promotion and protection of human rights at the top of its list of international priorities. “As a global force for good, we will continue to uphold and defend the international rule of law, the values of liberal democracy, and the rights and freedoms of citizens around the world.”
“We also pledge to stand up for freedom of expression, thought, conscience, and religion or belief; to defend media freedom, stand up for journalists and other media workers, and support other civil society groups that hold the powerful to account.”
Singling out Syria, Myanmar, Iran, North Korea and China for human rights abuses, he said the United Kingdom would implement a new autonomous human rights sanctions regime to “punish those who violate and abuse human rights.” And he pointed out that “millions of people around the world continue to be deprived of their rights and freedoms.”
Ten years ago, Lord Ahmed’s elevation to the international political stage might not have seemed an obvious career path.
At that time, he was still working as a banker, his political ambitions circumscribed by the town hall chamber at Merton Council south London where he served as a Tory councillor. A friend of Theresa May, who moved in the same local Tory circles, and had herself been a Merton councillor in the 90s, he came to national prominence in the party as its deputy chairman from 2008 to 2010 and was, subsequently, made a life peer by David Cameron, receiving the honorary title of Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon.
In 2014, Ahmad was promoted to parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Communities and Local Government. After the 2015 general election, he was appointed jointly as minister for skills and aviation security at the Department for Transport and minister for countering extremism at the Home Office. In 2016, he was appointed minister for aviation, international trade and Europe at the Department for Transport in the first May ministry.
After the 2017 general election, Ahmad was appointed minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibilities to the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and the prime minister’s special representative on preventing sexual violence in conflict and later south Asia. Lord Ahmad is one of a very few number of ministers to have served under the last three prime ministers.
Lord Ahmad’s mother was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and his father in Gurdaspur, Punjab. Educated at Rutlish School, Merton Park, southwest London, he is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.
“Being an Ahmadiyya Muslim also provides me the strength and conviction to stand up for any persecuted minority wherever they may be in the world,” he says.
He is married with two daughters and a son.