Shockat Hussain Adam Patel (born 1972) is a British businessman, optometrist, and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politician who has served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Leicester South Leicester South is a constituency, recreated in 1974, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jonathan Ashworth of the Labour Co-op Party (which denotes he is a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Part ...

since

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

Career

Adam was born in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, into a Muslim family of

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

descent and grew up in Leicester, where he attended sixth-form college. He studied optometry at the University of Manchester. He is a director of Sask Optics which is owned by him, his wife and his brother

Ismail Patel Ismail Patel (born 1962) is a British optician, and founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, an NGO based in Leicester. He is an advisory board member of the Conflicts Forum, director of IslamExpo, and a member of the Special Advisory Board of Clear Cons ...

. Adam was the former

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

chair of

Muslim Engagement and Development Muslim engagement and development (MEND) (formerly iENGAGE) is a UK NGO. It focuses on media monitoring, advocacy in Government of the United Kingdom, Westminster and improving the media/political literacy of British Muslims. The aim of the organi ...

, and spoke out against the

2022 Leicester unrest In August and September 2022, Leicester, England, saw a period of religious and ethnic tension between predominately Hinduism in the United Kingdom, British Hindus and British Muslim, British Muslims of South Asian origin. The unrest saw rioting ...

between Hindu and Muslim communities in the city. Prior to his candidacy, he had never been a member of a political party, although, in the 2019 general election, he had supported Labour Party candidate

Claudia Webbe Claudia Naomi Webbe (born 8 March 1965) is a British politician who is currently the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East. Elected to Parliament for Labour in the 2019 general election, she currently sits as an independent. Born in L ...

's campaign in

Leicester East Leicester East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was ele ...

. Adam was elected in the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 4 July 2024. It will determine the composition of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, which determines the Government of the United Kingdom. ...

as an

, beating

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate and Shadow Paymaster General

Jonathan Ashworth Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (born 14 October 1978) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since 2021. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

in a result that was described as an upset. Backlash against Labour's position on the

Israel–Hamas war An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a surp ...

was a factor in Adam's victory, with Adam saying "this is for Gaza" while holding a

Palestinian keffiyeh The Palestinian ''keffiyeh'' ( ar, كوفية, koofiyyeh) is a chequered black and white scarf that is usually worn around the neck or head. This ''keffiyeh'' has become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, dating back to the 1936–1939 Arab ...

aloft when the results were announced. In an interview with ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', Adam said his victory was not sectarian, and that his campaign had also focused on the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and the housing crisis.

Personal life

He is the brother of

, the founder of the Friends of Al-Aqsa NGO based in Leicester.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Shockat Living people 1972 births Alumni of the University of Manchester Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom UK MPs 2024–present British Muslim activists British activists for Palestinian solidarity English people of Gujarati descent Politicians from Leicester Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)