Rushanara Ali was first elected as the Labour Party MP for Bethnal Green & Bow in 2010, being re-elected in 2019 with a massive majority of 37,524.
She currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Investment and Small Business, having been appointed to the role in Keir Starmer’s September 2023 reshuffle.
The Bethnal Green & Bow constituency contains the heart of London’s east end in the Borough of Tower Hamlets. It includes Brick Lane, Mile End, Shadwell, and Bethnal Green. The seat is one of the most ethnically diverse in the UK with one of the highest proportions of Muslim voters. Traditionally a Labour seat it was briefly held by George Galloway and his Respect party between 2005 and 2010.
Born in 1975, Rushanara Ali grew up in Tower Hamlets, having moved to the UK from Bangladesh at the age of seven. She attended Mulberry School, Tower Hamlets College, and Oxford University.
Prior to becoming an MP, she worked as a researcher in Parliament, for the Institute for Public Policy Research, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and as an Associate Director of the Young Foundation in Bethnal Green.
She supported Kier Starmer for the Labour leadership in 2020. She supported Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership election, but then backed Owen Smith when he challenged Corbyn one year later.
In April 2016 Ali was appointed as the Prime Minster’s Trade Envoy to Bangladesh, a cross-party programme aiming to build business and bilateral trade relationships and help drive economic growth in developing countries.
Rushanara Ali jointly became Britain’s first female Muslim MP when elected in 2010 alongside Yasmin Qureshi and Shabana Mahmood.
She is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Philanthropy and Social Investment; the Rights of the Rohingya; Bangladesh; and Burma.
Email: rushanara.ali.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.rushanaraali.org
Twitter: twitter.com/rushanaraali
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushanara-Ali/
