A SUCCESSFUL winning streak – notching up four election victories in her constituency of Ladywood in Birmingham – since 2010, Shabana Mahmood is seen as one of the Labour Party’s rising stars. She has been preparing for the upcoming general election by going over party leader Sir Keir Starmer’s career and picking out potential issues that could be used by the Conservatives to attack him, according to one report. The shadow justice secretary recently appeared on the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson and was quizzed about the loss of trust among Muslim Labour supporters who vehemently disagree with the party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza. Sir Keir Starmer resisted all calls for an immediate ceasefire and the recent parliamentary debate in February turned into a farce when Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, enabled a vote on an amendment put forward by the Labour Party and therefore diffusing a stronger anti-war position put forward by the Scottish National Party. It had submitted a motion calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and “an end to the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.
Commentators said Labour did not want to take a stand on the SNP motion as it was too critical of Israel and instead backed what it called a “humanitarian ceasefire”, also arguing that Israel “cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence”. In other words, in plain speak, Labour wanted to say there was fault on all sides and not be seen to take a stand that was seen as being anti-Palestinian and wanted to be even-handed – even though many of the party’s critics, especially from some sections of the Muslim community, had felt severely let down by the way the party was handling the whole Gaza conflict. Mahmood handled the probe with a deft political touch, stressing concern for the humanitarian crisis in the region and maintaining empathy for all those affected. “If we lose our sense of humanity in the face of such suffering, we lose something invaluable,” she emphasised. She also pointed out that a ceasefire wasn’t much good if it wasn’t accepted by one side or the other. Mahmood said there was anguish on all sides and that only dialogue, not violence, could begin to chart a way forward. ‘We are all in this together as British citizens,” she said. When she was made shadow secretary of state for justice, Mahmood expressed her pride. “As a former barrister, I understand the challenges our justice system faces – after 13 years of Conservative rule, it is in dire straits. I am eager to dive in. Labour is the party of law and order,” she stated, perhaps only a little tongue in cheek knowing it is common Tory message on doorsteps. Mahmood had been before that – Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator since May 2021 – and has had a lot of sway in repositioning the party and getting it into a position where it is winning byelections – even challenging ones – with success. Prior to this role, she had served as a Treasury spokesperson under Ed Miliband from 2010 to 2015 and she had briefly been shadow chief secretary to the Treasury when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, but had resigned due to disagreements.
The daughter of the chairman of the Birmingham Labour Party, Mahmood’s roots trace back to Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Her father and grandfather immigrated to Britain in the 1960s after their village was submerged by the Mangla Dam. Mahmood pursued her education at the University of Oxford (Lincoln College), graduating with a BA honours degree in law before embarking on a career as a barrister.