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Khalid Mahmood (British politician)

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Khalid Mahmood
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement
In office
9 April 2020 – 13 April 2021
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byStephen Morgan
Succeeded byChris Evans
Shadow Minister for Europe
In office
6 October 2016 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byFabian Hamilton
Succeeded byCatherine West
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Perry Barr
In office
7 June 2001 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byJeff Rooker
Succeeded byAyoub Khan
Personal details
Born (1961-07-13) 13 July 1961 (age 63)
Lahore, Punjab
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Alma materUCE Birmingham
Websitewww.khalidmahmoodmp.com Edit this at Wikidata

Khalid Mahmood (born 13 July 1961) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 2001 until 2024 when he lost his seat.

He served on the Labour front bench as a shadow Foreign Office minister under leader Jeremy Corbyn, and a shadow Defence minister under leader Keir Starmer until his resignation in 2021.

Early life and career

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Khalid Mahmood was born on 13 July 1961 in Lahore, Punjab. His family moved to Birmingham, England when he was two years old.[1] He studied at UCE Birmingham.

Mahmood is a former engineer with a trade union background.[2] He was a Birmingham City Councillor from 1990 to 1993.[1]

Political career

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Mahmood was elected as MP for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 2001 general election with 46.5% of the vote and a majority of 8,753.[3][4]

In November 2001, an article supportive of the war in Afghanistan was published in The Observer under Mahmood's name, headlined "The Five Myths Muslims Must Deny".[5] A few days later however, it was revealed that the article had not in fact been written by Mahmood, but by fellow Labour MP Denis MacShane; Mahmood had agreed to put his name to the article after Lord Ahmed of Rotherham had refused. Mahmood's actions were condemned by Inayat Bunglawala from the Muslim Council of Britain, who said that "[after] Lord Ahmed refused, MacShane then found Mahmood—universally regarded as being not exactly the brightest spark in parliament—to be a more willing instrument for his scheme".[6]

Mahmood absented himself from the 18 March 2003 vote in which the Commons called for the invasion of Iraq, but in 25 November 2002 had voted against even requiring a vote in the Commons before the Blair government could invade Iraq. In 2006, he notoriously claimed that those calling for an inquiry into the invasion and the false claims that he and the Blair government had made to justify the invasion were encouraging attacks by Iraqi freedom fighters that purportedly killed civilians.[7]

He was re-elected as MP for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 2005 general election with an increased vote share of 47% and a decreased majority of 7,948.[8] In November 2005 he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tony McNulty, then a minister in the Home Office. He resigned in September 2006 along with several colleagues after signing a letter calling for Tony Blair to resign as prime minister.[9]

In May 2009, it was reported, as part of a series of leaked UK MPs expense details, that Mahmood claimed for £1,350 to stay in a five-star west London hotel with his girlfriend.[10] He also claimed more than £35,000 in expenses for food over eight years.[11]

At the 2010 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 50.3% and an increased majority of 11,908.[12][13]

Mahmood opposed the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College in September 2013 to ban students wearing veils.[14]

In January 2015, he was nominated for the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.[15]

At the 2015 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.4% and an increased majority of 14,828.[16]

He initially supported Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum, but switched his support to Remain just before the vote.[17]

At the snap 2017 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 68.1% and an increased majority of 18,383.[18][19]

In May 2019, it was reported by the Birmingham Mail that Mahmood was the most expensive Birmingham MP in 2018, claiming £210,183 in expenses.[20]

At the snap 2019 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 63.1% and a decreased majority of 15,317.[21][22]

In December 2019 he announced that he would stand in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election,[23] but pulled out of the contest in January 2020.[24]

In March 2020, Mahmood defended the anti-racist campaigner Trevor Phillips from claims of Islamophobia, saying that Labour had "lost its way" after it had suspended Phillips. Mahmood said that the move to discipline Phillips had brought "disrepute" on the party.[25]

After Keir Starmer in April 2020 became leader of the Labour Party, Mahmood was appointed as Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement.[26]

As of March 2021, Mahmood is a member of seven All-Party Parliamentary Groups, namely the groups for Bahrain, Cyber Security, International Relations, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Sovereign Defence Capability, and Terrorism.[27]

On 13 April 2021,[28] Mahmood resigned from the shadow frontbench, saying that his party had been taken over by "a London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors".[29] He later spoke to Spiked about his decision.[30]

Mahmood has always maintained that the Trojan Horse scandal, a conspiracy theory[31][32] which claimed that Muslims whom he opposed were conspiring to oppose zionism in British schools, involved genuine fears that non-violent extreme Islamist attitudes had infiltrated various Birmingham schools.[33] He contributed an introduction to this effect in the Policy Exchange report into the topic published in December 2022.[34]

In June 2024, Mahmood was reselected as the Labour candidate for Birmingham Perry Barr at the 2024 general election.[35] He was defeated by independent candidate Ayoub Khan.[36]

Mahmood is a member of Unite the Union.[23]

Personal life

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Kidney failure

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In January 2014, Mahmood underwent a kidney transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham, receiving an organ from a donor later revealed to be the Labour politician Siôn Simon.[37][38][39] He had been on dialysis, following kidney failure in 2008.[37] His twin brother had previously died from kidney failure.[38]

Liaison

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In August 2018, it was reported that Mahmood became involved in an employment tribunal over alleged religious discrimination brought about by his parliamentary assistant, Elaina Cohen, who is Jewish and with whom he was formerly in a 17-year relationship. It emerged that the costs of the legal battle were covered by a Parliamentary expenses system, which was ultimately funded by the taxpayer. The total cost to the taxpayer was reported to be almost £40,000.[40][41] In August 2022, Mahmood lost the claim against Cohen, with the court finding that she was unfairly dismissed and 'isolated' by her boss after raising concerns about alleged criminal actions by a colleague. The panel also ruled she had suffered detriment as a result of making a 'protected disclosure' in that she was 'marginalised and isolated in the period January 2020 until her dismissal'.[42]

Vaccination

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It was reported that, despite being in Tier 4 of the Government's priority list for the UK's COVID-19 vaccination, Mahmood was vaccinated in December 2020 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, contrary to calls from National Health Service management that the public would be turned away without an appointment. He pointed out:[43]

at the end of the day any vaccine unused because people have not turned up for their appointments is made available at the QE vaccination hub – we can’t afford to waste any vaccine doses.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mahmood, Khalid, (born 13 July 1961), MP (Lab) Birmingham Perry Barr, since 2001 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U42395. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  2. ^ Maguire, Kevin; Bloom, Dan (17 December 2019). "Khalid Mahmood announces bid to be Labour's deputy leader". Mirror. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Birmingham Perry Barr 2001 Election Results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  5. ^ "The five myths Muslims must deny". The Observer. 11 November 2001.
  6. ^ Bunglawala, Inayat (26 November 2008). "Supping with the devil-We're still discovering exactly how politicians and the media colluded to deceive us over Afghanistan and Iraq". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  7. ^ "Mahmood: "Iraq Inquiry would cost lives"". November 2006.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Blair hit by wave of resignations". BBC News. 6 September 2006. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  10. ^ "Man behind expenses leak revealed". BBC News. 23 May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  11. ^ Oldham, Jeanette (24 May 2009). "Expenses lovenest of Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood". Sunday Mercury. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll 2010" (PDF).
  14. ^ Sherriff, Lucy (10 September 2013). "Muslim Students Banned From Wearing Veils, Niqabs, For 'Safety' At Birmingham Metropolitan College". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  15. ^ "British Muslim Awards 2015 finalists unveiled". Asian Image. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "British Muslim MP defects to Remain over Brexit obsession with race". Middle East Eye édition française (in French). Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and notice of poll". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  19. ^ "Birmingham Perry Barr results". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Here are the most expensive and cheapest MPs in Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. 9 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Birmingham Perry Barr Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Parliamentary General Election Results December 2019". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  23. ^ a b Walker, Jonathan (17 December 2019). "Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood to stand for Labour Deputy Leader". birminghammail. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood pulls out of contest to be Labour's Deputy Leader". 9 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Shadow minister says Labour has 'lost its way' as party suspends anti-racism campaigner Trevor Phillips". politicshome.com. 9 March 2020.
  26. ^ Munawar, Imran; Ali Shah, Murtaza (10 April 2020). "Six British Pakistani MPs added in Labour's new shadow cabinet". The News International. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Khalid Mahmood - Parallel Parliament". Parallel Parliament. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  28. ^ Mahmood, Khalid [@khalid4PB] (7 May 2021). "On the 13th of April 2021 I stepped down from the Labour front bench as Shadow Defence Procurement Minister" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 May 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ Woodcock, Andrew (7 May 2021). "Labour MP Khalid Mahmood quits Keir Starmer's frontbench, warning party taken over by 'woke social media warriors'". The Independent. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  30. ^ "'Labour's policies are dictated by social media'". www.spiked-online.com. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  31. ^ Shackle, Samira (1 September 2017). "Trojan horse: the real story behind the fake 'Islamic plot' to take over schools". The Guardian.
  32. ^ Holmwood, John; O'Toole, Therese (2017). Countering Extremism in British Schools? The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair. Policy Press. ISBN 9781447344131.
  33. ^ Walker, Jonathan (17 May 2019). "MP Khalid Mahmood insists Trojan Horse was real". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  34. ^ Damon L. Perry; Paul Stot (2022). "The Trojan Horse Affair" (PDF). Policy Exchange. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  35. ^ Birmingham Perry Barr
  36. ^ "Birmingham Perry Barr - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  37. ^ a b Elkes, Neil (21 January 2014). "Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood recovering after kidney transplant". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  38. ^ a b "Transplant MP Khalid Mahmood to return to Commons". BBC Online. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  39. ^ "MEP's kidney donation to MP revealed". BBC Online. 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  40. ^ Mikhailova, Anna (27 August 2018). "How taxpayer was handed £40,000 bill after MP's love affair ended in discrimination claim". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  41. ^ Walker, Jonathan (28 August 2018). "Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood used public money to settle legal battle with assistant". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  42. ^ Haynes, Jane (2 August 2022). "Birmingham MP sacked aide unfairly". Birmingham Mail.
  43. ^ "Labour MP beats the vaccine queue". The Spectator. 29 December 2020.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Perry Barr
2001–2024 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Minister of State for Europe
2016–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
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