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Zarah Sultana

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Zarah Sultana
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Coventry South
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byJim Cunningham
Majority10,201 (23.9%)
Chairperson of the Socialist Campaign Group
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2020
Preceded byLloyd Russell-Moyle and Richard Burgon[1]
Personal details
Born (1993-10-31) 31 October 1993 (age 31)
Birmingham, England
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Labour Party (2010–2024; suspended and whip withdrawn)
Socialist Campaign Group
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
Signature
Websitezarahsultana.com

Zarah Sultana (born 31 October 1993)[2] is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election, representing the Labour Party until her suspension. Sultana received a six-month suspension in July 2024 as one of seven Labour MPs who voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap.[3] On the political left, she is a member of, and currently chairs, the Socialist Campaign Group.[4]

Early life and education

[edit]

Sultana was born in Birmingham on 31 October 1993,[4] to a Muslim family of Pakistani ancestry and was raised with her three sisters in Lozells.[5] Her grandfather migrated from Thub in the Dadyal Tehsil of the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir to Birmingham, England in the 1960s.[6]

Sultana attended Holte School, a non-selective community school,[7] before studying at the selective King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for sixth form.[7] At age 17, she visited Israel and the West Bank, observing a military court trial.[8] She went on to study International Relations and Economics at the University of Birmingham.[9]

Sultana joined the Labour Party in 2011, whilst studying for her A-levels, following the coalition government's decision to treble university tuition fees to £9,000.[10][11] Whilst at university, Sultana was elected to the National Executive Council of both Young Labour and the National Union of Students.[12]In 2018 Sultana was the Parliamentary Officer for the UK Based Muslim lobby group MEND.[13][14]

Parliamentary career

[edit]

2019 European Parliament election campaign

[edit]

Sultana was listed fifth of seven among the Labour candidates for the 2019 European Parliament elections in the West Midlands constituency, meaning that she would be elected if Labour received enough votes in the region to appoint five MEPs. She was not elected, as Labour won only one MEP in the constituency.[15][16]

2019 general election campaign

[edit]

In October 2019, she was selected as the Labour candidate for Coventry South,[4] after the incumbent Labour MP Jim Cunningham announced that he would stand down.[17] Her campaign was backed by Unite the Union, Momentum, the Fire Brigades Union, the Communication Workers Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union.[4] However, her selection was opposed by some local Constituency Labour Party (CLP) members, who preferred local candidates; one member would tell Jewish News in 2021 that the CLP was "remarkably moderate" in comparison to Sultana.[18][19] Sultana was elected at the 2019 general election, with a majority of 401 votes.[20]

During the 2019 election campaign, The Jewish Chronicle reported that in 2015, whilst she was a student, Sultana made social media posts from a subsequently deleted account which implied that she would celebrate the deaths of the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President George W. Bush and she supported "violent resistance" by Palestinians.[12] As a teenager, Sultana sent tweets telling someone whom she described as pro-Israel to "jump off a cliff" and compared the Holocaust to those who were killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Chechnya. In tweets, Sultana used slang phrases for white people—"YT" and "the white woman"—to describe some Jewish people.[21] Sultana apologised for the posts and stated that she no longer held those views and "wrote them out of frustration rather than any malice".[22][23] The Labour Party re-interviewed her as a consequence of the posts, but she remained the party's candidate.[24] After her election, The Jewish Chronicle reported on a further social media post made by Sultana in 2015, in which she stated that students supporting Zionism were "advocating a racist ideology...and champion[ing] a state created through ethnic cleansing, sustained through occupation, apartheid and war crimes."[25]

2019–2024, Parliament

[edit]

In her maiden speech, she decried "40 years of Thatcherism", criticised the effects of austerity, and voiced her support for a Green New Deal to combat climate change.[10][26] She joined the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group shortly after being elected[27] and in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for leader and Richard Burgon for deputy leader. Neither was elected.[28][29]

In January 2020, Sultana was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dan Carden, the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.[30] She was removed from this role by Keir Starmer when he became leader in April 2020.[31] Later in 2020, she opposed the Overseas Operations (Military Personnel and Veterans) Bill, which restricted British soldier torture prosecutions.[32]

In December 2020, UNICEF announced that it would provide £25,000 to the charity School Food Matters so that vulnerable children and families in Southwark could be supplied with thousands of breakfast boxes over the Christmas school holidays. In parliament Sultana said that it was the first time UNICEF had been required to "feed working-class kids in the UK. But while children go hungry, a wealthy few enjoy obscene riches". She mentioned that Jacob Rees-Mogg is "reportedly in line to receive an £800,000 dividend payout this year". Rees-Mogg criticised UNICEF's action and called it "a political stunt of the lowest order". Sultana then sent Rees-Mogg a copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, writing inside "Jacob, it seems this wasn't on Eton's reading list. Merry Christmas, Zarah".[33][34]

In January 2021, Sultana called for prisoners to be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccinations, describing them as "a high risk setting for transmission" and as such, it would be a "humane approach to a completely disenfranchised population".[35]

In April 2021, Sultana was profiled by Marie Le Conte for Vogue magazine, along with her Labour colleagues Charlotte Nichols, Taiwo Owatemi, and Sarah Owen. She spoke about the abuse she receives as a Muslim and as a woman of colour, including death threats and being told to 'go back to her own country'. Sultana was described as "one of the most left-wing new Labour MPs" who had "made a name for herself as an outspoken critic of the Government".[5] In September 2021, Sultana broke down in tears during a debate in Parliament recounting the "Islamophobic hate" she had been subject to since being elected.[36]

In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Sultana was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".[37]

In September 2021, Sultana chaired the Fire Brigade Union's Climate Catastrophe: The Case for a Socialist Green New Deal fringe event at the Labour Party conference.[38] In October 2021, she joined cross-party MPs including Caroline Lucas and Clive Lewis to launch the Green New Deal Bill in Parliament, "a game-changing plan to stop climate change and build a world in which we can thrive", which she described in a LabourList article as having "social justice at its heart, putting the interests of the many ahead of the greed of the few."[39][40]

On 24 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sultana was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures.[41] After receiving a death threat, she criticised what she described as "inaccurate" reports by the media for creating "an active danger to the safety of public figures, and threaten[ing] to narrow our democracy". In a statement to The Guardian she said that she "unequivocally condemned" the actions of the Russian government in Ukraine. She also criticised an anonymous Labour source who described the 11 MPs as a "mouthpiece for the Kremlin", and said that she had complained to party chair Anneliese Dodds about party sources disseminating "dangerous and irresponsible messages".[42][43]

In March 2022 Sultana pledged to donate her upcoming £2,212 pay rise to Coventry Foodbank and local charities in the city "supporting refugees, to help Ukrainians and all those fleeing brutal war".[44] She also organised a crowd funding campaign for Coventry Foodbank which raised £10,000,[45] which equated to over five tonnes of food.[46] She delivered a speech in Parliament on the cost of living crisis in May 2022.[47]

Sultana speaking at a nurses strike, in London, in January 2023

In October 2022, Sultana was reselected as the Labour Party MP for her constituency,[48] after receiving 90% of the vote from six local branches of the party and support from all participating affiliate organisations.[49] In November 2022 she addressed the picket line during the University and College Union (UCU) strikes on the University of Warwick campus.[50]

In December 2022, Sultana introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill to Parliament that would extend free school meals to all primary school pupils, titled the "Free School Meals for All Bill".[51] It was supported by the National Education Union’s No Child Left Behind campaign.[52]

In December 2022, when over 2,000 firefighters and control staff attended a rally in Westminster to protest low pay, Sultana addressed the crowd alongside Jeremy Corbyn and Matt Wrack.[53] In 2023 she opposed the Strike (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and was chair of the Fire Brigades Union parliamentary group.[54]

2024–onwards, Parliament

[edit]

At the general election in 2024, Sultana was re-elected and increased her majority from 401 to over 10,000, receiving 20,361 votes.[55] She was featured in a Vogue article about 13 female Labour MPs who were elected.[56]

During the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, she developed a significant media presence commenting on the situation in Gaza and UK arms exports to Israel. During this time she has become the MP receiving the most death threats and online abuse.[8][57]

On 23 July 2024, she, along with six other Labour MPs, had the whip withdrawn for six months for voting against the government and in favour of a Scottish National Party amendment to end the two child benefit cap.[58][59][60] She said that “I have to stand up for what I believe are the true values of the Labour Party and in doing so I've made difficult decisions in terms of defying the whip."[61]

In September 2024, Sultana voted against the Labour government and in favour of a motion to block the proposed cut in winter fuel payment.[61]

Recognition

[edit]

In March 2022, Sultana received an MP of the Year Award from the Patchwork Foundation, celebrating her work championing "underrepresented and disadvantaged communities across the UK."[62] She also presented the Campaigner of the Year award at the PinkNews Awards, to Nemat Sadat, an Afghan-American queer activist and novelist.[63]

Also in 2022, a photograph of Sultana featured in the Creative Connections Coventry exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, which celebrated cultural and political figures with connections to the city.[64] In 2023, she was nominated for a "Backbencher of the Year" award by the public relations firm Pagefield, and shortly afterwards, she received a "Coventry Legends Award" by Coventry United Women's Football Club in recognition of her work "as a committed champion of Coventry" and "for being an amazing female role model."[65][66][67]

In May 2023, she was ranked 47th on the New Statesman's "left power list", which described her as a "rare" "genuinely viral politician" with the highest number of TikTok followers of any MP, 438,000, along with 273,000 Instagram and 324,000 Twitter followers.[68] She says that social media is a "really effective in reaching out to newer audiences, younger audiences and getting out political messages".[69]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Russell-Moyle, Lloyd (4 May 2020). "Where the Socialist Campaign Group should go next for a unified left". LabourList.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : The definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ^ Elgot, Jessica (23 July 2024). "Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Rodgers, Sienna (1 November 2019). "Labour organiser Zarah Sultana picked to fight Coventry South". LabourList. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b le Conte, Marie (8 April 2021). "New House Rules: Meet The 4 Women MPs Reshaping The Labour Party". Vogue. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  6. ^ "For the first time ever, British parliament has more female Muslim MPs than male Muslim members | World | thenews.com.pk |".
  7. ^ a b Stretton, Rachel (3 December 2019). "Coventry South election candidate in the spotlight". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b Wintour, Patrick (19 May 2024). "Zarah Sultana: the Labour MP taking on the Tories and her own party, over Gaza". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  9. ^ "About". Zarah Sultana MP. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. ^ a b Segalov, Michael (23 January 2020). "Zarah Sultana MP: 'When I See Conservatives, I Think About All the Harm They've Caused'". Vice. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  11. ^ Sultana, Zarah (23 January 2020). "'The future is ours – it has to be': MP Zarah Sultana sets out her mission for change". gal-dem. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  12. ^ a b Harpin, Lee (4 November 2019). "Exclusive: Labour MP hopeful said she would 'celebrate' deaths of Blair, Netanyahu". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  13. ^ MEND (June 2018). "MEND-Approaching-a-definition-of-Islamophobia-More-than-words-Executive-Summary.pdf" (PDF). MEND (Muslim Engagement & Development. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Coventry Labour candidate Zarah Sultana apologises for 'celebrate death of Tony Blair' tweet". Coventry Observer. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  15. ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for the West Midlands| BBC News". BBC News. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  16. ^ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Mr Jim Cunningham". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Purge of the Corbynites: Four Labour MPs may face reselection battles". 9 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Labour Candidate Who Wanted To 'Celebrate' Death Of Tony Blair Faces Deselection". 7 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Coventry South". BBC News. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  21. ^ Doherty, Rosa (15 November 2019). "Labour candidate apologises for saying Zionists 'will not willingly assimilate with Palestinians'". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Labour Coventry South candidate Zarah Sultana apologises for 'celebrate deaths' post". BBC News. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  23. ^ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  24. ^ Stretton, Rachel (18 November 2019). "Coventry Labour candidate faces 're-interview' over tweets". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  25. ^ Harpin, Lee (24 January 2020). "Labour MP Zarah Sultana told student that 'privilege' allowed them to argue for Middle East peace". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  26. ^ "New Coventry MP Sultana, 26, uses first Commons speech to fire broadside for 'my generation'". Coventry Observer. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  27. ^ @zarahsultana (22 January 2020). "Proud to be in the Socialist Campaign Group meeting today for its official endorsement of @RLong_Bailey for Leader and @RichardBurgon for Deputy Leader. Now let's get these socialists elected! pic.twitter.com/2wndXTOOyU" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour leadership candidates". LabourList. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour deputy leadership candidates". LabourList. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  30. ^ @zarahsultana (28 January 2020). "I'm excited to join the Shadow International Development team, as @DanCardenMP's Parliamentary Private Secretary! The struggle to build a sustainable world for all – not just the super-rich – is close to my heart. That's the role Britain should be playing on the global stage" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Zarah Sultana: 'We cannot put anyone above the law'". Huck. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  33. ^ Sleigh, Sophia (18 December 2020). "Rees-Mogg branded 'Scrooge' over controversial Unicef comments". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  34. ^ "MP sends the perfect Christmas gift to Jacob Rees-Mogg after Speaker's warning". The National (Scotland). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  35. ^ "'Prisoners should get priority for jabs' – MP – insidetime & insideinformation". 18 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Coventry MP Zarah Sultana recounts 'Islamophobic hate'". The BBC. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  37. ^ ""We're calling on you to act now": read Stylist's open letter to Priti Patel about ending male violence against women and girls". Stylist. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  38. ^ "Industrial issues the focus for FBU at Labour conference | Fire Brigades Union". www.fbu.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  39. ^ "The Green New Deal bill has launched!". Green New Deal Rising. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  40. ^ Sultana, Zarah (29 October 2021). "'Labour must go bold on the climate with the Green New Deal". LabourList. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  41. ^ Wearmouth, Rachel (24 February 2022). "11 Labour MPs threatened with suspension for signing Stop The War letter attacking NATO". Mirror. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  42. ^ "Labour MP blames media after death threat over Ukraine statement". The Guardian. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  43. ^ Morris, Sophie (26 February 2022). "Labour MP Zarah Sultana receives death threat describing her as 'Putin's whore'". Sky News. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  44. ^ "Zarah Sultana: Coventry MP to donate pay rise to food bank and charities". BBC News. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  45. ^ Bland, Oscar. "Coventry South MP donates £10,000 to city's foodbank which is seeing more first-timers than ever before". Coventry Observer. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  46. ^ "Coventry MP Zarah Sultana visits foodbank after £10,000 crowdfund donation". BBC News. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  47. ^ "Zarah Sultana – 2022 Speech on the Cost of Living Crisis – UKPOL.CO.UK". 19 May 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  48. ^ Neville, Emily (20 October 2022). "Zarah Sultana reselected as the Coventry South MP". The Boar. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  49. ^ Knowles, Kate (12 October 2022). "Zarah Sultana "thrilled" at reselection as Coventry South MP". CoventryLive. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  50. ^ Attewell, Zac (1 April 2023). "An interview with Zarah Sultana MP: strikes, power, and the cost-of-living crisis". The Boar. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  51. ^ Buchan, Lizzy (9 December 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: All primary pupils in England would get free school meals under MP's law plan". Mirror. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  52. ^ McRae, Isabella (14 December 2022). "Why MP Zarah Sultana is fighting for free school meals". Big Issue. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  53. ^ "Over two thousand firefighters and control staff rally in Westminster | Fire Brigades Union". www.fbu.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  54. ^ "Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill | Firefighter Magazine". www.fbu.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  55. ^ Pinnell, Daisy; Peden, Becca; Stretton, Rachel (5 July 2024). "Coventry South election result as Zarah Sultana says Labour 'must deliver'". Coventry Live. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  56. ^ Tsjeng, Zing (15 August 2024). ""You Feel The Weight Of History": Vogue Meets The Women MPs Determined To Change Britain For The Better". British Vogue. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  57. ^ Barker-Singh, Serena (13 March 2024). "A day out with Labour MP Zarah Sultana reveals how she constantly has to think about her safety". Sky News. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  58. ^ "Labour suspends seven rebel MPs over two-child benefit cap". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  59. ^ Elgot, Jessica. "Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  60. ^ "I have been informed by the Chief Whip & the Labour Party leadership that the whip has been withdrawn from me".
  61. ^ a b "Coventry MP warns winter fuel cuts could have fatal consequences". BBC News. 11 September 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  62. ^ Yedroudj, Latifa (22 March 2022). "Zarah Sultana wins an MP of the Year award". CoventryLive. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  63. ^ Billson, Chantelle (20 October 2022). "Labour MP Zarah Sultana bids 'good riddance' to ex-home secretary Suella Braverman". PinkNews. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  64. ^ "Creative Connections Coventry". Culture Space Coventry. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  65. ^ "Pagefield Parliamentarian Awards" (PDF). Pagefield. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  66. ^ Nick, Smith (28 February 2023). "Coventry MP Zarah Sultana up for MP of the Year". CoventryLive. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  67. ^ Claire, Harrison (28 March 2023). "Zarah Sultana MP given 'Coventry Legends Award'". CoventryLive. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  68. ^ "The New Statesman's left power list". The New Statesman. 17 May 2023. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  69. ^ "TikTok good for reaching younger people, Coventry MP Zarah Sultana says". BBC News. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Coventry South
2019–present 		Incumbent
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