British election — Rushnara safe, Tulip-Rupa in uphill battle

Ever since British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a snap election, dubbed by many as the 'Brexit Election', to be held on 8 June, the British Bangladeshi community has been pondering the fate of the three Bangladeshi-origin women MPs, two of whom won their seats for the first time only two years ago.

Rushnara Ali, Tulip Siddiq and Rupa Huq created history at the general elections of 7 May 2015 by winning their seats and reducing the Conservative Party working majority in the House of Commons to only 17. Never before have three Bangladeshi-origin women sat together in the House of Commons. The big question is, can all three of them retain their seats in the upcoming election?

Only Rushnara Ali from the safe Labour seat of Bethnal Green and Bow in the east end of London is assured of victory. Bethnal Green and Bow has been a stronghold of Labour for many years, with veteran politician and a good friend of Bangladesh, Lord Peter Shore, representing this constituency. After his retirement, Oona King was the Labour candidate and was duly elected MP from this seat. The only blip was in 2005 when maverick Scottish politician George Galloway, after being expelled from Labour Party, formed the Respect Party and won this seat for one term only. The local Labour party wisely nominated Rushnara Ali to contest this seat at the election of 2010. Rushnara Ali, who was born in Bishwanath, Sylhet, and came to the UK at the age of seven, won a resounding victory with a majority of 11,574 votes. She was taken into the front bench education team of her party but resigned over the war in Iraq and abstained from voting on the issue of military action against Iraq. In the election of 7 May 2010, Rushnara Ali not only retained her seat in this constituency with a large Bangladeshi community but increased her majority to 24,317, taking 61.2% of the votes cast. She then served in the Shadow Cabinet with the portfolios of International Development and Education.

Rushnara Ali is confident of retaining her seat and has vowed to continue her work in improving education standards, providing affordable housing and reducing health inequalities in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
Tulip Siddiq, daughter of Sheikh Rehana, the younger daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was born in Mitcham and grew up in Hampstead. From a very early age she took active part in politics and in May 2010 was elected the first Bangladeshi woman councillor for Camden Council in London. She won the nomination of the Labour Party for the parliamentary seat of Hampstead and Kilburn in London, one of the most marginal seats in the UK. In the general election of May 2015 Tulip Siddiq won this seat bagging 23, 977 votes and with a majority of 1,138 votes. It was the first time in 23 years that this constituency had seen a new MP. It was previously occupied for the Labour Party by the reputed British actress, Glenda Jackson, from 1992 to 2015. Glenda Jackson won this seat in 2010 by only 42 votes. No wonder, this seat is considered the second tightest in the whole country.

Tulip Siddiq very quickly made her mark in the Labour parliamentary Party and was made Shadow Education Minister in October 2016. But she resigned from the post in January 2017 over the Article 50 vote in the House of Commons, saying that she could not reconcile herself to her party's 3-line whip to vote for triggering Article 50. Tulip very candidly quipped, "I do not represent Westminster in Hampstead and Kilburn. I represent Hampstead and Kilburn in Westminster". At the Brexit Referendum, 75% of the voters in her constituency voted to remain in the European Union. There is no doubt that Hampstead and Kilburn is a 3-way marginal seat but Tulip Siddiq thinks she can retain the seat given the door-to-door canvassing that her army of supporters has been so rigorously conducting.

The other British Bangladeshi woman MP in the fray is Rupa Huq, who was elected for the first time from the Ealing Central and Acton constituency in west London in May 2010. Rupa's parents emigrated to the UK in the 1960s and she was born in Hammersmith. After completing her education, she engaged herself in teaching and writing and also had a stint in television. Rupa Huq beat her rival Angie Bray, the sitting Conservative Party MP, by only 274 votes overturning a majority of 3,716 with a swing of 4.2%. She has served in various All-Party Parliamentary Groups and has also been a member of the Justice Select Committee. She was also included in the Shadow Home Affairs Team (Crime Prevention). West Ealing and Acton will be very difficult to hold given the huge lead the Conservatives have over the Labour Party in the opinion polls. But, in an effort to help Rupa Huq beat the Conservatives and retain her seat, the Green Party pulled out of her seat, the first tactical withdrawal of the ensuing election. The Green Party won 1,841 votes at the 2010 election and it took the decision of not putting up a candidate after Rupa Huq promised to campaign for voting reform and the environment.

There is no doubt that, apart from Rushnara Ali, the other two MPs, Tulip Siddiq and Rupa Huq, have a mountain to climb to get into the House of Commons for a second time. The Conservative Party, which is campaigning on the mantra of 'strong and stable leadership', must regain such marginal seats if it means to make Theresa May's hands stronger at the Brexit talks with the European leaders. If, however, such seats still remain in Labour's hands after 8 June, the overall political map could take a different shape and the pollsters could once again be left with egg on their faces.