Murad Qureshi

{{Short description|British Labour and Co-operative Party politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Murad Qureshi

| native_name = মুরাদ কোরেশী

| native_name_lang = bn

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Murad Qureshi AM.jpg

| caption = Qureshi in April 2012

| office = Member of the London Assembly
as the 6th Additional Member

| assembly = London

| term_start = 25 March 2020

| term_end = 6 May 2021

| majority =

| predecessor = Fiona Twycross

| successor = Zack Polanski

| term_start1 = 1 May 2012

| term_end1 = 6 May 2016

| majority1 =

| predecessor1 = Nicky Gavron

| successor1 = Fiona Twycross

| office2 = Member of the London Assembly
as the 7th Additional Member

| assembly2 = London

| term_start2 = 10 June 2004

| term_end2 = 6 May 2016

| majority2 =

| predecessor2 = Samantha Heath

| successor2 = David Kurten

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|5|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| party = Labour Co-op

| otherparty =

| spouse =

| partner =

| relations =

| children =

| parents =

| residence = Central London, England

| education = MSc Environmental Economics

| alma_mater = University of East Anglia {{small|(BA)}}
University College London {{small|(MSc)}}

| occupation =

| profession = Politician

| known_for =

| awards =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website = {{URL|http://www.muradqureshi.com/}}

| footnotes =

}}

Murad Qureshi ({{langx|bn|মুরাদ কোরেশী}}; born 27 May 1965) is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician, and a former Member of the London Assembly.{{Cite web |title=Qureshi, Murad, (born 27 May 1965), Member (Lab) London Assembly, Greater London Authority, 2004–16 and 2020–21 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-44646 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u44646|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }}{{Cite web |title=Murad Qureshi |url=https://party.coop/person/murad-qureshi/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Co-operative Party |language=en-GB}}

Early life and education

Qureshi was born in Greater Manchester, but he was brought up in Westminster, London, where his parents moved in July 1965. He attended Quintin Kynaston School and graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in Development Studies in 1987, before undertaking an MSc in Environmental Economics at University College London, which he completed in 1993.

Qureshi is of Bangladeshi descent,{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/2358790/Amiss-unearths-helmet-that-changed-the-game.html|title=Amiss unearths helmet that changed the game|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=28 April 2005|access-date=5 June 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1609611|title=London legislator wants cricket in 2012 Olympics|publisher=MSN UK|date=6 August 2008|access-date=5 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910064450/http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1609611|archive-date=10 September 2008|url-status=dead}} and comes from a politically active family: his late father Mushtaq Qureshi was a Labour Party councillor in the City of Westminster{{cite news |last=Foot|first=Tom|url=http://www.thecnj.com/westend/2009/103009/wnews103009_04.html?headline=Fighter_for_social_justice|title=Fighter for social justice|publisher=West End Extra|date=30 October 2009|access-date=13 October 2009}} and was a freedom fighter in the Bangladesh War of Liberation. His youngest sister, Papya Qureshi, was also a councillor in Westminster.{{cite web |title=Councillors |url=http://www.westminster.gov.uk/councillors/cllr.cfm?cllr_id=76 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821121329/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/councillors/cllr.cfm?cllr_id=76 |archive-date=21 August 2006 |access-date=21 August 2006 |publisher=Westminster City Council |df=dmy-all}}

Career

Before becoming an Assembly Member, he worked in Housing and Regeneration for 15 years, helping establish housing associations and co-ops in the East End.{{cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.muradqureshi.com/index.php?id=18 |access-date=24 June 2009 |publisher=www.muradqureshi.com}}

He was an Executive Committee member of SERA from 1994 to 2000 and a former board member of BRAC U.K, an international NGO seeking to alleviate poverty and empower the poor.

In 2018 it was reported that Jeremy Corbyn had intended to propose Qureshi for a peerage.{{Cite web |date=2018-03-14 |title=Jeremy Corbyn 'forced to ditch peerage for key ally in favour of departing party chief' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/jeremy-corbyn-forced-to-ditch-peerage-for-key-ally-in-favour-of-departing-party-chief-a3789756.html |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}

= Politics =

Qureshi was a councillor for Church Street on Westminster City Council from 1998 to 2006, and was elected on the Labour Party's party list to the London Assembly at the 2004 Assembly election. He was re-elected at the 2008 election and again at the 2012 Assembly election. He failed to be re-elected at the 2016 election; because Labour gained constituency seats, it lost seats from its party list, which Qureshi was on.{{cite web | url = https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/who-vote/london-wide-assembly-member-candidates | title = London-wide Assembly Member candidates, 2016 | date = 1 April 2016 | access-date = 21 May 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160812091858/https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/who-vote/london-wide-assembly-member-candidates | archive-date = 12 August 2016 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=https://www.londonelects.org.uk/sites/default/files/London-wide%20Assembly%20Member%20results%202016.pdf|title=London-wide Assembly Member results 2016.pdf|date=6 May 2016|access-date=21 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000651/https://www.londonelects.org.uk/sites/default/files/London-wide%20Assembly%20Member%20results%202016.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url = https://londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/election-results/results-2016| title = Results 2016, London Elects | date = 6 May 2016}}

In 2005, he was described as "the only Muslim member" of the London Assembly,{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/islamic-leaders-will-issue-fatwa-on-terrorists-498278.html|title=Islamic leaders will issue 'fatwa' on terrorists|newspaper=The Independent|date=10 July 2005}} although he supports Amartya Sen's theory of plural identitiesSee Amartya Sen, Identity and Violence (2006) and has criticised the practice of individuals "defining themselves simply by their religion, without taking into account other key aspects of their identity".{{cite web |url=http://blog.muradqureshi.com/sikh-girls-victory-points-to-multiply-identities/|title=Sikh girl's victory points to multiple identities|publisher=Qureshi Report|date=1 August 2008}}See also [http://blog.muradqureshi.com/london-in-multiple-identities/ London in multiple identities] Qureshi Report, 8 April 2009

Qureshi was Chair of the London Assembly's Environment Committee and a Member of the Transport Committee. He was also a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, which oversees the London Fire Brigade between 2004–2012 and Chair of the Mayor's London Waterways Commission, since its inception. From 2004 to 2006, Qureshi was a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Under his chairmanship of the Environment Committee at the London Assembly, a body of work emerged against expansion of Heathrow airport work and its adverse environmental impact on Londoners' quality of life, particularly in west London suburbs, including reports "Plane Speaking" (2012) and "Flights of Fancy" (2010), plus consultation responses on the Government's Draft Aviation Policy Framework (2012), and more recently against night flights.

"Flights of Fancy", produced before the general election in May 2010, argued against Labour government keenness to have a third runway at Heathrow. Since losing that general election, the Labour Party has dropped its position on the expansion of Heathrow airport.

As an Assembly Member, he has undertaken rapporteurships into pedicabs (cycle rickshaws){{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/transport/rickshaws.pdf|title=London's Rickshaws|publisher=London Assembly Transport Committee|date=February 2005|access-date=1 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212004348/http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/transport/rickshaws.pdf|archive-date=12 February 2007|df=dmy-all}} and the loss of London's playing fields.{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/environment/playing-fields.pdf|title=Offside: The Loss of London's Playing Fields|publisher=London Assembly Environment Committee|date=May 2006|access-date=1 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119035245/http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/environment/playing-fields.pdf|archive-date=19 November 2008|df=dmy-all}} The latter report called for Sport England to be consulted on all applications for developments on playing fields measuring 0.2 hectares or more, a policy which has since been adopted by the Department for Communities and Local Government.{{cite news|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23660716-details/Umpires+rule+on+playing+field+sales+are+ruled+offside/article.do|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505080810/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23660716-details/Umpires+rule+on+playing+field+sales+are+ruled+offside/article.do|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|title=Umpires rule on playing field sales are ruled offside|newspaper=Evening Standard|date=11 March 2009|access-date=1 April 2009}}

Qureshi lost his seat in 2016, but returned to the assembly in 2020 following the resignation of Fiona Twycross.{{cite web|url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/18344169.labours-alison-moore-murad-qureshi-join-london-assembly/|title=Labour's Alison Moore and Murad Qureshi join London Assembly | East London and West Essex Guardian Series|date=30 March 2020 |publisher=guardian-series.co.uk|access-date=2020-04-03}} He was third on the Labour list for the 2021 election, and was not re-elected.{{Cite web |last=Harpley |first=Mary |title=Statements of persons nominated for the London Assembly (London-wide) |url=https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-candidate/statutory-notices-and-elections-timetable/statements-persons-nominated-london-assembly-london-wide |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418063107/https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-candidate/statutory-notices-and-elections-timetable/statements-persons-nominated-london-assembly-london-wide |archive-date=18 April 2021 |access-date=2021-04-20 |website=London Elects }}

At the 2018 and 2022 local elections, Qureshi stood in Little Venice ward on Westminster City Council, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.{{Cite web |title=Little Venice Ward |url=https://www.andrewteale.me.uk/leap/ward/378/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Local Elections Archive Project}}{{Cite web |title=Little Venice |url=https://www.westminster.gov.uk/about-council/democracy/elections-referendums-and-how-vote/local-elections-5-may-2022/little-venice |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Westminster City Council |language=en}}

Campaigns and activities

Image:Murad Qureshi.jpg

Among his campaigns, Qureshi has called for the inclusion of Twenty20 cricket in the 2012 Olympic Games,{{cite news|url=http://www.twenty20for2012.com/2008/08/am-launches-petition-to-include-cricket-at-london-olympics|title=AM launches petition to include cricket at London Olympics|work=Twenty20 for 2012 press release|publisher=Twenty20 For 2012|date=5 August 2008|access-date=1 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027190500/http://www.twenty20for2012.com/2008/08/am-launches-petition-to-include-cricket-at-london-olympics/|archive-date=27 October 2008|df=dmy-all}} a proposal which has received the backing of the London Assembly,{{cite news |url=http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/News/London_Assembly_wants_T20_cricket_in_2012_Olympics/articleshow/3742228.cms|title=London Assembly wants T20 cricket in 2012 Olympics|newspaper=The Times of India|date=21 November 2008|access-date=1 April 2009}} and he has advocated the use of blue lines to mark the courses of London's underground rivers.{{cite news |url=http://www.thecnj.com/westend/2009/012309/forum012309.html|title=Time to draw a (blue) line over the capital's historic lost rivers|publisher=West End Extra|date=9 January 2009|access-date=1 April 2009}}

He has called for Edgware Road tube station (Bakerloo Line) to be renamed Church Street Market, as this would end the confusion between that station and the namesake station on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6994475.stm|title=Call to rename twin Tube stations|work=BBC News|date=14 September 2007|access-date=23 March 2008}}

He has worked for many years to raise awareness of the crucial role of remittances in international development{{cite news |url=https://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jan/15/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices|title=Migrant workers of the world unite|newspaper=The Observer|date=15 January 2006|access-date=11 June 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://blog.muradqureshi.com/money-transfers-make-the-world-go-round/|title=Money transfers make the world go round|publisher=Qureshi Report|date=26 February 2009}} with his last letter in the Financial Times generating much debate. In 2004, remittances was the key topic on which he presented evidence before the House of Commons International Development Committee as part of a submission by the British Bangladeshi International Development Group.{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmintdev/uc79-v/79iii.pdf|title=Submission to the House of Commons International Development Committee (IDC) inquiry into Migration and Development|date=30 January 2004|website=Publications Parliament}}

In 2007, Qureshi hosted a meeting at City Hall which launched the Cambridge IGCSEs in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India Studies{{cite web |url=http://www.cie.org.uk/news/features/detail?feature_id=8304|title=New Cambridge IGCSEs launched at event attended by Nobel Prize Winner Professor Amartya Sen|publisher=University of Cambridge International Examinations|date=20 June 2007|access-date=10 June 2009}} with Amartya Sen's support. Qureshi closely follows political developments in South Asia, and was in Bangladesh for the parliamentary elections in December 2008.{{cite news|url=http://blog.muradqureshi.com/bnp%e2%80%93jamaat-smashed-in-bangladesh-polls-as-electorate-votes-for-secularism/ |title=BNP-Jamaat smashed in Bangladesh polls, as electorate votes for secularism |publisher=Qureshi Report |date=1 January 2009 |access-date=10 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401030516/http://blog.muradqureshi.com/bnp%E2%80%93jamaat-smashed-in-bangladesh-polls-as-electorate-votes-for-secularism/ |archive-date=1 April 2011 }}

He is Chairman of Capital SERA, the London branch of SERA.{{cite news|url=http://www.sera.org.uk/index.php?id=27&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=13&cHash=678e4cded8|title=Launch of Capital SERA|publisher=SERA News|date=27 January 2009|access-date=24 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716114200/http://www.sera.org.uk/index.php?id=27&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=13&cHash=678e4cded8|archive-date=16 July 2011|df=dmy-all}} He contributes regular columns to the Morning Star,{{cite news |last=Qureshi|first=Murad|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/tories-play-trump-card|title=Tories play the Trump Card|newspaper=Morning Star|access-date=10 May 2022}} The China Daily,{{cite news |last=Qureshi|first=Murad|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2008-10/23/content_7132525.htm|title=Time for congestion charging in Beijing?|newspaper=China Daily|date=23 October 2008|access-date=11 June 2009}} Tribune{{cite news |last=Qureshi|first=Murad|url=http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2009/05/03/boris-progressive-image-is-just-spin/|title=Boris: progressive image is just spin|publisher=Tribune|date=1 May 2009|access-date=11 June 2009}} and the Westminster Extra.

Qureshi has a music record named after him, and has financially backed a British film Shongram, which is a romantic drama, set during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation struggle.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}