Imran Ahmad Khan (British politician)

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This British surname is barrelled, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as Ahmad Khan, not Khan.
Imran Ahmad Khan
MP
Official portrait of Imran Ahmad Khan MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Wakefield
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byMary Creagh
Majority3,358 (7.5%)
Personal details
Born
Imran Nasir Ahmad Khan

(1973-09-06) 6 September 1973 (age 48)
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative (suspended)
EducationSilcoates School
Alma materKing's College London
Pushkin Institute
Centre International de Formation Européenne
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Imran Nasir Ahmad Khan (born 6 September 1973)[1][2] is a suspended Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wakefield since 2019.[3]

Born and educated in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, Ahmad Khan studied at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow and King's College London. He worked for the United Nations as special assistant for political affairs in Mogadishu and as a senior consultant for M&C Saatchi. A supporter of Brexit, he was elected in the 2019 general election and attributed his victory to voters' support for leaving the European Union in 2016.

In 2021, he was charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, contrary to section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. In a statement, Ahmad Khan said he denied the accusation "in the strongest terms".[4]

Early life and career[]

Ahmad Khan was born in Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, where both his parents worked.[5] His father, Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan, was born in the North-West Frontier Province of British India (modern-day Pakistan), and worked as a consultant dermatologist.[6][7] His English mother was a State Registered Nurse and midwife.[8] His grandmother, Joyce Reynolds, also worked at Pinderfields Hospital as a staff sister.[7] His grandfather was a miner.[7]

Ahmad Khan attended the local, independent Silcoates School.[9] He studied the Russian language at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow, and earned a bachelor's degree in war studies at King's College London.[10] He worked for the United Nations as special assistant for political affairs in Mogadishu and as a senior consultant for the advertising agency, M&C Saatchi.[10][better source needed] Having worked as a counter-terrorism expert prior to becoming an MP,[9] he joked his experience in conflict zones such as Somalia and Afghanistan gave him what would be needed to build bridges between warring parties in the Brexit battle.[11]

Political career[]

Member of Parliament[]

Ahmad Khan defeated the incumbent Labour MP, Mary Creagh, to become the first Conservative MP for the constituency in 89 years.[12] Wakefield voted almost 2-to-1 in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum and was a target seat for the Conservatives.[11] He was selected after the withdrawal of a candidate whose racist and sexist social media posts were uncovered.[13] Labour's Creagh said: "Will the next candidate they parachute in be any better? Don’t hold your breath." Ahmad Khan responded by taking part in a skydive[14] over the town and retorted he was "a local lad born and bred in Wakefield, of Wakefield stock. I couldn't figuratively parachute in—and I didn't want to disappoint her—so I decided I would literally parachute in."[14]

The LGBT+ Conservatives group incorrectly described Ahmad Khan as 'openly gay' and he made news worldwide for becoming the first openly gay Muslim to be elected. They subsequently clarified that Ahmad Khan "fully endorses" the group's aims "but is not an out LGBT MP".[15][16] The confusion arose after a mistaken application to a fund to help LGBT+ Conservative candidates.[17]

In his maiden speech in January 2020, Ahmad Khan paid tribute to his predecessor and spoke of his pleasure at being part of "a vibrant and dynamic pack of Yorkshire MPs". He called for equality of opportunity to be made real, and for more patriotism: "I see perhaps more clearly than most the deep and enduring importance of core British values such as compassion, tolerance and fairness, especially at a time when those values are perceived as under threat in many parts of our world."[18]

Ahmad Khan is a member of the Backbench Business Committee.

COVID-19 pandemic response[]

Ahmad Khan organised a shipment of 110,000 reusable face masks through connections with the charity Solidarités international and the Vietnamese Government. Most of the masks were for the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust's Pontefract, Pinderfields and Dewsbury and District Hospitals and 10,000 were distributed by the trust to local care homes and hospices.[5][19] He launched 'Wakefield Together' to co-ordinate local efforts to tackle difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]

Ahmad Khan helped secure £2.9 million for Wakefield's art hubs, including Theatre Royal Wakefield, the Creative Art House, and the West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre, via the Culture Recovery Fund.[20]

Political positions[]

Brexit[]

Ahmad Khan supported Britain's departure from the European Union. In an interview with Channel 4 he attributed his success in the 2019 general election to "Islington Remainers" who branded Leave voters "stupid, uneducated, racist or wrong".[21] He has stated that he decided to stand in the election because he came to believe British democracy was "under threat".[7]

In September 2020, in a debate about the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, Ahmad Khan declared: "I am an ardent supporter of Brexit and look forward eagerly to the opportunity to bolster the United Kingdom's position by becoming an independent, self-governing nation, possessed of the confidence that flows from our vision and principled values". In his speech, he went on to explain his concerns over the Internal Market Bill before backing the legislation.[22]

National Trust coverage of slavery[]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Ahmad Khan was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[23]

Yorkshire Devolution Movement[]

Ahmad Khan supports the Yorkshire Devolution Movement and called for the devolved West Yorkshire authority to be based in Wakefield. In Rishi Sunak's 2020 Budget, West Yorkshire was allocated £1.8bn with a £317m investment in transport and the election of a Mayor of West Yorkshire, a position which in addition to budgetary control will assume the powers of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.[24]

Personal life[]

Ahmad Khan is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community[25] and describes himself as a "proud Yorkshireman".[26] He has two brothers. Karim Ahmad Khan QC, a barrister specialising in international human rights law, is an assistant secretary-general of the United Nations, appointed by the UN Security Council to lead an investigation into alleged crimes committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq.[26][27] Khalid Ahmad Khan, a lawyer based in Oman, won the Middle East General Counsel of the Year Award in 2017 and was named one of the most influential lawyers in the Middle East in Legal 500's GC Powerlist 2019.[28][29][30]

Sexual offence allegation[]

In June 2021, it was reported that Ahmad Khan had been charged for an alleged historical sexual offence. It is alleged that in 2008 he groped a 15-year-old boy in Staffordshire. In a statement, Ahmad Khan said he denied the accusation "in the strongest terms".[4] In response to the charge, the Conservative Party suspended the whip pending the outcome of the prosecution.[31][32] On 10 September 2021 he pleaded Not Guilty at the Old Bailey.[33] Ahmad Khan's trial is scheduled to start on 21 March 2022.[34]

References[]

  1. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 370. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ "Imran Ahmad Khan for Wakefield in the UK Parliament elections". Who Can I Vote For? by Democracy Club. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Wakefield Parliamentary constituency". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan charged with sexually assaulting boy". BBC News. 18 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b Scott, Geraldine (18 April 2020). "Wakefield MP arranges delivery of 110,000 reusable face masks from Vietnam for NHS". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Saeed Ahmad Khan". BMJ. 314 (7076): 308. 25 January 1997. doi:10.1136/bmj.314.7076.308. ISSN 0959-8138.
  7. ^ a b c d Scott, Geraldine (28 December 2019). "Imran Ahmad Khan: 'I never imagined in my worst nightmare that our democracy would be under threat at home'". Yorkshire Post.
  8. ^ AHMAD KHAN, IMRAN (30 September 2020). "Britain doesn't need benefits, it needs skills, says IMRAN AHMAD KHAN". Express.
  9. ^ a b "Wakefield Tory candidate Antony Calvert stands down over Facebook posts". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Imran Ahmad Khan". LinkedIn. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  11. ^ a b Crilly, Rob (6 December 2019). "Echoes of Trump across the pond: Blue-collar Labour voters feel abandoned by party elite". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Conservatives win Wakefield for first time in nearly 90 years". wakefieldexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  13. ^ Perraudin, Frances (14 November 2019). "PM under fire for not sacking candidate who wrote 'racist' articles". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  14. ^ a b Scott, Geraldine (21 November 2019). "Tory candidate is literally parachuted in to Wakefield to counter opponents' claims". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Tories apologise after Imran Ahmad Khan was 'incorrectly' named as first openly gay Muslim MP". ITV News. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  16. ^ Mahmood, Basit (20 December 2019). "Conservative Party apologises for saying MP was 'openly gay'". Metro. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Yorkshire Tory wrongly described as 'openly gay' after mistaken application to LGBT+ fund". The Yorkshire Post. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  18. ^ Scott, Geraldine (13 January 2020). "New Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan pays tribute to 'calm, concise, and experienced' Labour rival Mary Creagh in maiden speech". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Politically speaking: Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad-Khan on the government's response to coronavirus". Wakefield Express. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Political column: Imran Ahmad Khan MP - A bright future beckons amidst the uncertainty". Wakefield Express. 25 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  21. ^ "'Islington Remainers' branded Leave voters 'stupid, uneducated, racist or wrong', says Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan". Channel 4. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Any lost moral authority over Brexit 'will be difficult to repair' – Imran Ahmad Khan". Yorkshire Post. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ^ "Wakefield's MP calls for new devolved West Yorkshire authority to be headquartered in the city". Wakefield Express. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Yorkshire MP speaks of 'bondage of tyranny and the fear of persecution' faced by Ahmadi Muslims". Yorkshire Post. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Imran Khan becomes first Ahmadi to be elected to British Parliament". Rabwah Times. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  27. ^ Michelle Nichols (23 August 2018), U.N. team, approved a year ago, starts work on Islamic State crimes in Iraq Reuters.
  28. ^ "GC Powerlist – Middle East". legal500.com. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  29. ^ "GC Powerlist – Middle East 2019". legal500.com. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Middle East Legal Awards General Counsel of the Year: Khalid Khan, chief legal officer, The Zubair Corporation". LegalWeek. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  31. ^ "Tory MP faces trial over alleged 2008 assault on 15-year-old boy". The Guardian. 18 June 2021.
  32. ^ Evans, Martin (18 June 2021). "Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan accused of sexually assaulting 15-year-old boy". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Imran Ahmad Khan: Wakefield MP denies sexual assault on boy". BBC News. 10 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Imran Ahmad Khan: Trial set for Wakefield MP accused of sexual assault". BBC News. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wakefield
2019–present 		Incumbent
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