Nusrat Ghani, the MP for Wealden, is a rising Tory star, and she is making history as she climbs each ladder of her political career.
First elected in 2015, Nus is the first female Muslim MP from the Conservative Party, and she became the first female Muslim to speak from the dispatch box in the House of Commons in January 2018, after being appointed a minister in the transport department. In between, she made another first, repeating her oath in Urdu when she was sworn into parliament after the June 2017 snap election.
“Oath proudly taken in both English and Urdu to honour my mum,” she wrote on Twitter. Her mother had no formal education and 46-year-old Nus is the first female in her family, Kashmiris migrated from Pakistan, to go to school. In 2015, her father interpreted that proud moment of the family for his wife, and when she returned with a higher margin two years later, Nus wanted to speak in a language her mother understands.
Nus’ is a story of defying expectations. Leave aside politics, she was not expected to go for higher education either. “Actually, there was pressure not to go to college and university. But I was undeterred,” she had told the Evening Standard.
Nus went on to study politics at Birmingham City University and take masters in international relations from Leeds University. She worked for charities Age UK and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and later at BBC World Service, before joining the Conservatives in 2009. She took the electoral plunge next year, standing in Birmingham Ladywood, which turned out to be a contest to become Britain’s first female Muslim MP. The honour went to Labour’s Shabana Mahmood.
As an MP, Nus has attracted wide attention when she proposed a bill to ban the term ‘honour killing’ in official publications. “Language matters,” she had told the Commons, adding that the term is used by perpetrators as a “pathetic self-justification” for their crime. She has also passionately advocated to take cultural differences into account when we talk about gender equality.
“We need to recognise and respond to the fact that even as we try to smash glass ceilings, that some women are only just getting admitted into the room in the first place. We need to ensure that there is not a two-track system in place,” she had stated.
As a minister, she has taken steps to close the gender gap prevalent in the areas under her remit, particularly in rail and engineering. She also handles shipping, freeports, skills and apprenticeships and accessibility in the ministry. In July 2019, she was appointed as a government whip, in another indication of her rising stature in the party.
From a council house to a government seat, the trail she blazed is indeed spectacular, and Nus hopes this will open doors to people from similar background. Commenting on her historical moment at the dispatch box, she wrote: “ I hope that today young people can see that regardless of their background, heritage or faith there will be a warm welcome on the green benches, and no matter where you are from you can achieve your dreams and ambitions.”
