First Muslim woman in UK Cabinet level job

From Spero News

Sayeeda Warsi, a human rights lawyer, has become the first Muslim woman to take a post at cabinet level in the British parliament.

Thursday, October 18, 2007
By Martin Barillas

Sayeeda Warsi, a human rights lawyer, has become the first Muslim woman to take a post at cabinet level in the British parliament. Taking her seat as Baroness Warsi on October 15, she is 36-year-old married woman mother and also the youngest member of Britain's House of Lords and first female Muslim for the opposition Conservative Party. Her peerage was made official on October 11.

Warsi said it was a "great honor" to be asked by Conservative leader David Cameron to serve as shadow minister for community cohesion. She explained that community cohesion is "how we all live together with ease, how we feel comfortable in our communities and the way in which we bind together as a nation." Cameron announced in July 2007 that he planned to name Warsi to the new post.

Said the new member of the upper deck of the UK parliament, "I am delighted to take up my seat in the House of Lords and look forward to the hard work ahead and contributing to the excellent debates the House of Lords is renowned for," she said.

Warsi is not the only Muslim woman in the House of Lords. Baroness Uddin has represented the ruling Labour Party since 1998, while Baroness Falkner has served in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat since 2004. There are four Muslim men serving in the House of Lords, three for Labour Party and one with the Conservative Party. Conservative leader David Cameron said that he created the new post of community cohesion in response to pressures for further inclusion of Muslims.

In an op-ed published in June 2006 in the Yorkshire Post, Warsi scored British politician Nick Griffin and Muslim imam Abu Hamza saying “BOTH preached hate. Both tried to divide our society. Both were shunned by the majority. And both stood trial for their despicable views. Nick Griffin, head of the far right British National Party, and Abu Hamza, the former Imam of Finsbury Park Mosque, had far more in common than they would care to admit - not least, that they have thrust the issue of race relations to the forefront of public debate.” She has also criticized the ruling Labour government for multiculturalism that is "what divides us rather than what unites us."

Born in 1971 to Muslim parents from Pakistan, Warsi had stood for House of Commons for Dewsbury in West Yorkshire but lost her election to a fellow Muslim. She has been criticized in the past by British gay rights group Stonewall for allegedly homophobic views expressed in campaign literature. According to Wikipedia.org, she is a practicing Muslim but does not wear the hijab. Photographs on her website show her, for example, wearing a rugby football uniform.