Hina Bokhari (born 10 August 1975) is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician.

Early life

Bokhari was born in

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, north London. She is the daughter of Nawazish "Naz" Bokhari and Rizwana Bokhari and is of Pakistani descent. Hina's younger brother, Harris Bokhari, is a charity founder . Her Punjabi-born father Naz was the first British Muslim to run a secondary school in the UK; he was headteacher of

Ernest Bevin College Ernest Bevin College is a secondary school for boys and a mixed sixth form located in Tooting, London, England. The school is all-boys for ages 11 through 18, and has a co-educational sixth form. It has about 1,173 pupils. The school was judg ...

and was awarded an OBE for services to education in the

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.Current

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Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

was one of his students

Career

Prior to becoming politically active, Bokhari worked as a teacher for 20 years in London schools. She has also founded two youth focused charities. She is now a councillor in Merton.

Politics

Bokhari joined the Liberal Democrats in 2017, standing for election to

Merton Council Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London. History There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...

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and winning her seat, becoming the first Muslim woman elected in Merton. In 2018, she came fifth in the members ballot for the Liberal Democrat list for the 2020 London Assembly election (postponed until 2021 owing to the

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). However, she was promoted to second place on the list because she was from an ethnic minority. Bokhari was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the

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Sutton and Cheam constituency in the 2019 general election, she finished second behind the

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incumbent,

Paul Scully Paul Stuart Scully (born 29 April 1968) is a British politician serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutto ...

, who won the seat with a majority of 8,351. On 6 May 2021, Bokhari was elected as a Member of the London Assembly. She was the first Liberal Democrats to have gained a seat on the London Assembly since 2004.

Personal life

In 2008, Bokhari married Martin Cooper. The couple has two children, a son and daughter. Outside of politics, Bokhari lists her interests as baking, "playing board games with my kids," and "spending time with friends and family."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bokhari, Hina Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British Muslims British people of Punjabi descent British schoolteachers Councillors in the London Borough of Merton Liberal Democrat Members of the London Assembly Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates People from the London Borough of Enfield 1975 births Women councillors in England British people of Pakistani descent