Nosheena Shaheen Mobarik, Baroness Mobarik (; born 16 October 1957) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. She served as a

Member of European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for Scotland from 2017 to 2020.

Early life and education

Mobarik was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 16 October 1957 to a Pakistani family originally from Mian Channu,

Khanewal District Khanewal District (Urdu and ) is a district of the Punjab province of Pakistan.Khanewal , Punjab Portal. Retrieved 16 January 2022, from https://www.punjab.gov.pk/khanewal According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, the district had a populati ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

which emigrated to Scotland in the early 1950s. Soon after she was born her family went back to live in Pakistan. At the age of six, she migrated with her family back to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Mobarik completed her secondary education at Shawlands Academy. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with Honours in History from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

in 1991.

Career

Business

In 1997 Mobarik and her husband, Dr Iqbal Mobarik, set up M Computer Technologies, an IT business solutions company aimed at retail companies. In 1999 M Computer Technologies won the Business Startup of the Year Award, going on to be voted Scotland's Company of the Year in 2005. That same year Mobarik was named Business Woman of the Year. Mobarik was a Member of the Business Advisory Forum of

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

2007–2011, and served on the West Regional Advisory Board of Scottish Enterprise, 2009–2011. From 2007 to 2011, Mobarik was a Member of the Business Advisory Forum of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

Mobarik was first elected to the Council of CBI Scotland in 2001, following which she was re-elected in 2004, 2007, and 2010. Mobarik held this position until serving a two-year term as Chairman of CBI Scotland between 2011 and 2013. As Chairman Mobarik became a leading member of two influential CBI committees, the Chair's Committee and the President's Committee. A focus during Mobarik's time as Chairman was developing the agenda in support of growing small firms in Scotland and increasing Scotland's exports.

Philanthropy

Mobarik has held a deep interest in human rights throughout her life and has worked to raise awareness around human rights issues over many years. She was a founder of the Save the Bosnian People Campaign, which was inaugurated in 1995. She travelled to Bosnia to see the effects of the conflict herself and worked to raise awareness about the human rights violations in the UK and raise money for the victims. Mobarik was also the director of the multi-faith charity Glasgow the Caring City, from 2001 to 2006.

Pakistan

Mobarik has spent much of her career building relations between Scotland and Pakistan and then later with the rest of the UK. In 2008, Mobarik formed the Scottish Pakistan network, which aims to facilitate business and cultural links between Scotland and Pakistan. In 2008, Mobarik was appointed chair of the Pakistan Britain Trade & Investment Forum (PBTIF). Mobarik rebranded the PBTIF; this council has both the support of the UK and Pakistan government and is a vehicle to increase bilateral trade and investment in both countries.

Political career

In June 2013, Mobarik was appointed to the Strathclyde Commission on future devolution in Scotland, chaired by Lord Strathclyde, on behalf of the Scottish Conservative Party. The Commission published its report in June 2014. In November of the same year, Mobarik joined the board of the Better Together Campaign. Better Together was the official campaign for a No Vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum, 2014, and was chaired by

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...

. Mobarik was a

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 30 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Par ...

candidate in the May 2014

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

elections. In March 2018, Mobarik was asked by Ruth Davidson, leader of the

, to head up a commission aimed at encouraging more women and ethnic minorities to stand for the party.

House of Lords

In 2014, Mobarik was appointed as a Conservative

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, assuming the title of Baroness Mobarik of Mearns in the county of Renfrewshire. Mobarik's maiden speech in the Lords was on the Modern Day Slavery Bill. From March 2015 to 2017, Mobarik served as a party whip and then as a government

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

from 2016 to 2017 for the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for stri ...

and the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

Member of European Parliament

In September 2017, she replaced Ian Duncan as Conservative MEP for the Scotland constituency. In the

Mobarik has worked on bringing awareness to the plight of the

Rohingya The Rohingya people (; ; ) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who predominantly follow Islam from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Ro ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. As part of this work, Mobarik visited the Cox's Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh in April 2018. Mobarik also spoke at the European Parliament calling for EU countries to step up their action to end early forced marriage. At the 2019 European Parliament elections Baroness Mobarik was the leading candidate on the Scottish Conservative Party's list and was one of six MEPs elected for the Scotland Constituency. She served as MEP until the 31 January 2020, when the

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

process was completed.

Honours and awards

Mobarik was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2004 Birthday Honours, and was promoted to

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

(CBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

, for her services to Business and Public Service in Scotland. The state of Pakistan awarded her the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2012, in recognition of her work in improving Pakistan–Scotland relations.About Nosheena
Nosheena Mobarik. Retrieved on 28 April 2017. In January 2013 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Mobarik was created a

as Baroness Mobarik, ''of Mearns in the County of

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

'', on 19 September 2014.

References

External links

nosheenamobarik.com

Baroness Mobarik
– UK Parliament {{DEFAULTSORT:Mobarik, Nosheena 1957 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II MEPs for Scotland 2014–2019 MEPs for Scotland 2019–2020 Scottish Conservative MEPs Scottish people of Pakistani descent 21st-century women MEPs for Scotland Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Scottish people of Punjabi descent