HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood said that her religious faith is central to her work in politics, telling Sir Tony Blair that her belief in God motivates her to serve the public and make the most of the advantages she was born with.
Speaking at a Christmas gathering hosted by the former prime minister’s Institute for Global Change in central London, Mahmood was reminded of the moment in 2003 when Blair’s former communications chief, Alastair Campbell, famously cut off questions about religion by saying, “We don’t do God.”
She replied: “I can do God. So my faith very, very much has called me to public service as well.”
Mahmood is the first Muslim woman to serve as home secretary. Asked by Sir Tony to name her defining “Labour moment”, she said it was the chance to represent the Birmingham community where she grew up. She added that her religion was also a major part of that moment.
When Sir Tony asked what keeps her going in politics, especially at a time when MPs face constant online abuse, she said: “Firstly, I really believe in what I’m doing… If you really believe that what you’re doing is the right thing for the country… then actually, I feel like I’m in quite a strong position.”
She went on to describe how her “strong faith” encouraged her to stand for Parliament in the first place.
“I do have a very strong faith. It is the reason I feel like I’ve been called to public service. I think I genuinely believe life is a test, and you are accountable to God for how you use the privileges you are gifted at birth by God, and that really motivates me.”
Mahmood said she sees herself as fortunate — from being raised by what she called “amazing” parents, to being educated in what she described as an “amazing country”. This sense of good fortune, she said, drives her to try to improve life for others.
She also spoke openly about the pressure of being a “brown Muslim woman in politics”, saying she had faced attempts from some people to silence or undermine her.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot… and I haven’t done that to let some two bit idiot on Twitter knock me off course,” she said. She added that no one could make her feel out of place in the UK or in the Labour party, saying: “I do know who I am.”
The Asian minister won Birmingham Ladywood for Labour in 2010. She was made justice secretary by Sir Keir Starmer after Labour’s 2024 election victory, and became home secretary in his September reshuffle.
Seen by some as a possible future party leader, she has already dealt with the prisons and courts backlog and is now setting out major asylum reforms.
She said she was now 96 days into the job and still taking in the scale of the role. The Home Office, she said, brings “huge” responsibility and some of the toughest issues any government has to face.
“There’s a part of me that just really feels completely honoured every day I walk into the Home Office… and a part of me that’s always… excited about dealing with some of the biggest issues that the country is facing," she said.
But she admitted the role came with constant risks.
The department, she said, revealed around 100 “landmines” a day: “Your main job is not to get blown up by one of those landmines because it is such a tough gig.”
