Geo 436 Report: Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi (born 28 March 1971) is a British politician for the Conservative Party and a lawyer. Since the UK General Election, 2010 she has been the Chairman of the Conservative Party, sitting in the Cabinet. She is the first Muslim woman to sit in the cabinet.
Early life
Baroness Warsi was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire in 1971 to Pakistani parents. She was educated at Birkdale High School, Dewsbury College, and the University of Leeds where she read Law (LLB). She attended the York College of Law to complete her Legal Practice Course and trained with both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office Immigration Department.
After qualifying as a Solicitor, she worked for John Whitfield, the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors and then set up her own specialist practice George Warsi Solicitors in Dewsbury. She has also worked overseas for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan and in Kashmir as Chairman of the Savayra Foundation, a women’s empowerment charity.
Life Peer
Baroness Warsi was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Dewsbury at the 2005 General Election, becoming the first Muslim woman to be selected by the Conservatives. She lost that election by nearly 5000 votes. She has served as a special adviser to Michael Howard on Community Relations and was appointed by David Cameron as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party with specific responsibility for cities.
In its December edition, the New Statesman ‘revealed’ that the Baroness received support for her general election campaign from Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer. According to the New Statesman’s report, Warsi “welcomed Lord Ahmed’s support”.
On 2 July 2007 Baroness Warsi was appointed Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and a working peer. Her peerage was conferred as Baroness Warsi, of Dewsbury in the County of West Yorkshire on 11 October 2007 and gazetted on 26 October 2007. She is, by October 2007, the youngest member of the House of Lords.
On 1 December 2007, Baroness Warsi travelled with Lord Ahmed to meet for talks with Sudanese officials and Ministers, in response to the jailing of an English teacher, Gillian Gibbons. Gibbons had been found guilty of insulting Islam, after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed. This had resulted in her prosecution and a 15 day jail sentence. Although Baroness Warsi’s and Lord Ahmed’s meeting with the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir did not lead directly to Mrs Gibbons being pardoned, it is acknowledged that, along with the enormous efforts made by Gillian Gibbons’s family, friends, and others, it may have indirectly contributed to her release.
Related posts:
0 comments :
Post a Comment