Afzal Khan was first elected as the Labour MP for the Manchester Gorton constituency in 2017, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 30,339.
He currently serves as the shadow minister for exports, having been appointed to the role in Keir Starmer’s September 2023 reshuffle.
Manchester Gorton is the safest seat in Manchester for the Labour Party. It is an ethnically diverse seat, with close to a third of its population being of Asian decent, with a further sixth classified as Black or Mixed Race. It was previously represented in Parliament by the veteran Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman.
Khan was appointed to the Shadow Justice team in December 2021, serving as Shadow Legal Aid minister until 2023. He previously served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.
Khan was born in Pakistan in 1958 and moved to the UK at the age of 11. Leaving school without qualifications, Khan initially worked as a labourer in a cotton mill, a bus driver, and as a Greater Manchester Police Constable. He later retrained as a solicitor, becoming a partner at his own firm.
Khan represented North West England as a Member of European parliament between 2014 to 2017, and served on Manchester City Council between 2000 and 2014. He was the first ever Muslim Lord Mayor of Manchester between 2005 and 2006.
He supported Emily Thornberry in the 2020 Labour leadership election.
Afzal Khan is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on British Muslims, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Hajj and Umrah , Hate Crime, International Relations, Uyghurs , Terrorism Food Banks, and Fuel Poverty. He is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Britain-Pakistan Trade and Tourism.
Khan has previously served as the assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.
Mr Khan has detailed how he received Islamophobic abuse after taking the parliamentary oath in both English, and then in Urdu, which he describes as his mother tongue.
He is married with three children. His father was a member of the British Indian Army.
He has previously talked of how he lost his mother, his mother in law, and his father in law, to Covid.
Website – https://www.afzalkhan.org.uk/
Email – afzal.khan.mp@parliament.uk
Twitter – @Afzal4Gorton
