Shabana Mahmood

Shabana Mahmood (شبانہ محمود; born 17 September 1980) is a British politician and barrister who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010.

A member of the Labour Party, she has served in the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice from September 2023.

She previously served as Campaign Co-ordinator from 2021 to 2023, and briefly as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2015.

Mahmood was born and brought up in Birmingham.

Her father is a civil engineer and chair of the local Labour party.

She attended Small Heath Leadership Academy and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls in Birmingham.

Mahmood graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford where she studied law and was the president of the Junior Common Room.

She is a qualified barrister, specialising in professional indemnity.

At the 2010 general election, Mahmood was elected as MP for Birmingham Ladywood with a majority of 10,105 and 55.7% of the vote.

Along with Rushanara Ali and Yasmin Qureshi, Mahmood became one of the UK's first female Muslim MPs.

Mahmood served a number of front bench positions under Ed Miliband's leadership, including Shadow Minister for Prisons, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

In January 2014, Mahmood was nominated for the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards.

At the 2015 general election, Mahmood was re-elected with an increased vote share of 73.6% and an increased majority of 21,868.

Following the election, Mahmood was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

In September 2015, following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader, Mahmood stepped down from the role, saying she "strongly disagreed" with him on the economy.

In October 2015, she was named as one of the winners of the women's magazine Marie Claire's Women at the Top Awards.

In January 2016, Mahmood was elected to represent the Parliamentary Labour Party on Labour's National Executive Committee, and was re-elected in July 2016.

In November 2016, Mahmood was elected one of the vice chairs of Labour's National Policy Forum.

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.

In November 2016, Mahmood did not vote on a motion in Parliament for the UK to withdraw support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

At the snap 2017 general election, Mahmood was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 82.7% and an increased majority of 28,714.

In 2018, Mahmood was named as one of the Brummies Who Inspire in celebration of the 175th anniversary of Birmingham City University.

In September 2023, Mahmood was named by the New Statesman as the UK's twentieth most powerful Left Wing Figure.

Mahmood was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 79.2% and a decreased majority of 28,582.

After Labour's loss in the 2019 election, Mahmood was asked to commission a review launched by Labour Together of the party's election performance.

She was joined by Lucy Powell, Ed Miliband, Jo Platt and others.

Consequently, she did not nominate any candidate for the 2020 Labour Party leadership election or deputy election.

In the May 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, Mahmood returned to the Shadow Cabinet as Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator, replacing Angela Rayner in the role.

On 13 June 2023, Mahmood ruled out a Lib–Lab pact in the byelections in Mid Bedfordshire, Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Selby and Ainsty.

In September 2023, Keir Starmer appointed Mahmood as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice.

Mahmood abstained from voting on the Scottish National Party backed ceasefire vote between Israel-Hamas in Gaza in November 2023.

For this reason local Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) groups have carried out protests against her, calling for her to either change her views or resign.

In the next general election the 'Never Forget Gaza' party aims to stand against her in the Ladywood constituency.

In February 2024 Mahmood reflected on this and spoke of "a loss of trust" of Labour from British Muslims.