Sadiq Khan is the Member of Parliament for Tooting, where he has lived all his life. He was first elected as MP for Tooting on 5th May 2005 and was re-elected on 6th May 2010. Sadiq Aman Khan was appointed Minister of State for Communities by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, making him the second-ever British Pakistani to serve in the UK Government.
He is Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform), having been elected to the Shadow Cabinet on October 7th 2010.
In January 2013 Sadiq was appointed as the Shadow Minister for London, a position he holds as well as being Shadow Justice Secretary and Shadow Lord Chancellor.
Previously the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Sadiq was the first ever BAME politician to be elected to the Labour Party’s Shadow Cabinet, and was the youngest member of Ed Miliband’s cabinet. He served in a number of ministerial posts during the last Labour Government. He is a member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), the Labour Party’s governing and policy-making body.
In June 2009 Sadiq was appointed to the Privy Council and was asked to attend Cabinet meetings, becoming both the first Asian and the first Muslim to do so.
In Tooting
Sadiq was born in St George’s Hospital in Tooting, growing up on a council estate in Earlsfield. He attended local state schools Fircroft Primary School (where he is now a governor), Ernest Bevin Comprehensive School and Burntwood Girls Secondary School (for sixth form, where it’s mixed!). His father was a London Transport bus driver for more than 25 years.
He married in 1994 to a fellow solicitor in Wandsworth, who was also born and raised in South London. They have 2 daughters who both attend local state schools.
Sadiq was a Councillor for the Tooting ward in the London Borough of Wandsworth from 1994 to 2006 (and was Deputy Leader of the Labour Group for 5 years). He became the youngest councillor in London when first elected at the age of 23.
He was awarded the title of Honorary Alderman for the London Borough of Wandsworth in June 2006 for his long service.
In May 2005 General Election Sadiq was elected as Member of Parliament for Tooting. He was the first ever MP of Islamic faith ever elected in London.
In the May 2010 General Election, Sadiq was re-elected to represent Tooting having received 22,038 votes - getting over 4000 more votes than in the 2005 General Election - on a 68.6% turnout. This represented a rise in both his personal votes, and his share of the vote
Legal Career
Prior to becoming the MP for Tooting, Sadiq was a Human Rights solicitor and was a founding partner of one of the country's leading Human Rights firms. In his final year of practising law he was listed as one of the county's leading lawyers in two separate categories of law in the Chambers and Partners directory 2004-05 (Human Rights and Police law).
He has acted in a number of landmark cases in all major Courts (including the European Court of Human Rights, House of Lords, Court of Appeal), and Tribunals. Prior to being an MP, he wrote, lectured and appeared in the media on a range of issues. He co-authored Police Misconduct: Legal Remedies (LAG 4th edition 2005) and Challenging Racism; Using the Human Rights Act (Lawrence and Wishart 2003).
As a lawyer, Sadiq gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on a number of occasions, and to the Privy Council of the House of Lords.
Sadiq was Chair of Liberty (NCCL) for 3 years and Vice Chair of Legal Action Group (LAG) for a number of years. He has advised a number of the country's major voluntary and community groups.
Sadiq has been a visiting lecturer at the University of North London and London Metropolitan University, and is a former governor of South Thames FE College.
Member of Parliament (2005- present)
Sadiq was a member of the prestigious Public Accounts Select Committee between 2005 and 2007.
He was awarded 'Newcomer of the Year' in the Spectator Magazine Parliamentarian of the Year awards 2005. He was runner-up in Channel 4's 'Rising Star' award, and was described as 'one to watch' by both The Independent and The New Statesman.
As a backbench MP Sadiq was critical of some of the Labour Government’s counter terrorism and foreign policy.
In 2008, Sadiq was awarded the Muslim News Award for Excellence. (He was the first politician ever to be nominated for such an award).
In 2008 Sadiq authored the book 'Fairness Not Favours - How to connect with British Muslims', which won the Jenny Jeger award for best Fabian Society publication.
Coutsey: http://www.sadiqkhan.org.uk/