Faisal Rashid (born 1972) is a British

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 ...

politician who 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 ...

(MP) for

Warrington South Warrington South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andy Carter, a Conservative Party politician. Constituency profile Warrington South is one of two seats covering the Borough of Warri ...

from 2017 to 2019.

Early life and career

Rashid was educated at the

National College of Business Administration and Economics The National College of Business Administration and Economics (NCBAE) is a private university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Schools Currently, NCBA&E has two schools: and has one faculty of Social Sciences. These schools and faculty of s ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. He has worked as a manager at HBOS and

NatWest Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

. Rashid served as a Member of Warrington Borough Council from 2011 until 2017, resigning following his election to Parliament. He was the first Muslim

Mayor of Warrington The Mayor of Warrington is the highest-ranking officer in the municipal government of Warrington, England. Role The Mayor of Warrington, as the first person of the borough, chairs meetings of Warrington Borough Council. Elected for one year, the ...

, serving from May 2016 to May 2017.

Parliamentary career

Rashid was elected as the MP for

at the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, defeating incumbent Conservative and then government minister

David Mowat David John Mowat (born 20 February 1957) is a former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington South (UK Parliament constituency), Warrington South, and wa ...

. In May 2018, Rashid apologised over a tweet which critics suggested was encouraging voters to vote more than once. Rashid said the well-known and jocular phrase "vote early, vote often, vote Labour", was sent by a member of staff. In October 2018, it was reported that Rashid had been on five overseas trips, worth almost £10,000 in total, since his election. The trips were to Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, China, Germany, Qatar and the West Bank and Israel and the cost met by NGOs, companies or overseas governments. Rashid responded that "These trips are largely educational in purpose. The opportunity to meet with individuals on the ground provides invaluable opportunities for learning and understanding. On occasions, the trips have also focused on enabling MPs to support British businesses abroad and on advancing bilateral relations. These are key aspects of a member of Parliament’s role, especially as the UK looks to redefine its position in the world post-Brexit." Rashid sat on the Parliamentary

International Trade Select Committee The International Trade Committee is one of the Parliamentary select committees of the United Kingdom, Select Committees of the British House of Commons, having been established in 2016. It oversees the operations of the Department for Internation ...

and the

Committees on Arms Export Controls The Committees on Arms Export Controls (formerly the Quadripartite Committee) is the name for the concurrent meeting of four House of Commons select committees, comprising the International Trade Select Committee, the Defence Select Committee, the ...

. In June 2019, Rashid urged Warrington Borough Council to declare a climate emergency. While Warrington voted to Leave the EU in 2016, Rashid supported a second referendum on Britain's EU membership and would have campaigned for Remain. Rashid lost his seat at the 2019 general election to the Conservative candidate Andy Carter.

Post-parliamentary career

After his departure from parliament, Rashid established a finance company, Westminster Finance Limited. In July 2021, he was elected chair of the Warrington South Constituency Labour Party.

References

External links

* 1972 births Living people British businesspeople British Muslims Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Warrington UK MPs 2017–2019 National College of Business Administration and Economics alumni Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom {{UK-MP-2017-stub