Naseem Shah was born on 13 November 1973 in Bradford.[5] Her father left the family when she was six years old. At age 12, she was sent to Pakistan by her mother, Zoora Shah, to escape her mother's abusive partner, where she had an arranged marriage.[5][6]
When she was 20, her mother was convicted of the murder of her partner, who had sexually and physically abused her for over a decade, and served 7 years in prison.[6][7]
Early career
Before being elected as an MP, Shah was the chair of mental health charity, Sharing Voices Bradford, and had previously worked as a carer for disabled people, as an NHS Commissioner and a director for a regional association supporting local councils.[8]
In a secret ballot in February 2015 for selection as the Labour Party candidate for Bradford West, Amina Ali won with 142 votes against Shah's 13. However, Ali resigned shortly afterwards citing personal reasons[12][13][14] and Shah was chosen as the candidate by the Labour Party National Executive.[15][16][17] At the 2015 general election, Shah was elected to Parliament as MP for Bradford West with 49.6% of the vote and a majority of 11,420.[18][19]
Shah endorsed Yvette Cooper during the Labour leadership contest in 2015.[20]
In April 2016, Shah was reported to have reposted in August 2014 a Facebook post with a map from Norman Finkelstein's website showing Israel superimposed on the United States, with the headline "Solution for Israel-Palestine conflict - relocate Israel into United States".[22][23] She had added the comment that this might "save them some pocket money" (i.e. US funding for Israel).[24][25] Finkelstein defended the map as humorous.[26] Shah responded that her views on Israel had moderated, and stepped down as John McDonnell's PPS.[27][28]Jeremy Corbyn condemned her posted comment as "offensive and unacceptable". She was suspended from the Labour Party that month, pending investigation.[29][30] In July, she was reinstated but given a formal warning for bringing the party into disrepute and told to apologise.[31] Shah said she had shown "ignorance", and said that the post was antisemitic but she was not.[32]
At the snap 2017 general election, Shah was re-elected as MP for Bradford West with an increased vote share of 64.7% and an increased majority of 21,902.[33][34]
In August 2017, Shah retweeted and liked a tweet from a 'parody' account claiming to belong to Labour member Owen Jones that read: "Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity".[35] Shah deleted the retweet and unliked the original tweet. A spokesperson said: "This was a genuine accident eight days ago that was rectified within minutes."[36][37] Shah also claimed to have a record on challenging abuse.[35]
In April 2018, following Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's death, Shah paid tribute by tweeting an image incorporating Mandela's quote: "Together, hand in hand, with our matches and our necklaces, we shall liberate this country", a reference to murders using petrol and tyres.[38] She later deleted the tweet.[39][38]
In July 2018, Shah was appointed Shadow Minister of State for Women and Equalities.[40][41]
Shah was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 76.21% and an increased majority of 27,019.[42][43]
On 1 October 2020, the pro-Brexit group Leave.EU apologised and paid damages for libel to Shah after they made a social media post which accused her of being a "grooming gangs apologist". In a statement, Leave.EU said that their post was "ill-judged and untrue" and described Shah as a "vociferous campaigner for victims of grooming gangs".[44]
During a 14 June 2021 parliamentary debate on whether to implement two petitions on economic sanctions against Israel and on recognising the State of Palestine, Shah warned the incoming Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, that "if any more Palestinian blood is unjustly spilled under a perverted interpretation of a right to self-defence" that she would push for Israel to be tried before the International Criminal Court for war crimes.[45][46][47]
Personal life
During the early 2010s, Shah was injured in a hit-and-run collision, which has left her with ongoing periodic severe nerve pain which requires hospitalisation.[48]
