The topic of Tulip Siddiq has been the subject of interest and debate for a long time. Over the years, Tulip Siddiq has captured the attention of experts and enthusiasts alike, generating a wide spectrum of opinions and perspectives. From its origins to its relevance today, Tulip Siddiq has played a significant role in various fields, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. In this article, we will explore in depth the history, impact and future implications of Tulip Siddiq, providing a comprehensive and insightful look at this crucial topic.
Tulip Siddiq is the daughter of former Dhaka University professor Shafique Ahmed Siddique, and Sheikh Rehana, who gained political asylum in the UK as a teenager. The two met when Shafique Siddique was studying for a PhD, and married in Kilburn in 1980. Siddiq was born in St Helier Hospital in St Helier, London, and has an elder brother, Radwan "Bobby" Mujib, and a younger sister, Azmina Siddiq. When she was 15, the family moved to Hampstead. She was raised a Muslim and has said that her "family embraced multicultural Britain". In the heart of North London's Jewish community, she attended seder with neighbours and went to Limmud. As a child, she met Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Mother Teresa, and her family was invited to the White House.
At the age of 16, Siddiq joined the Labour Party. Her father suffered a stroke, which left him disabled and unable to speak for five years. She has cited the National Health Service and the care her disabled father received as the reason why she joined. She identified former Labour minister Barbara Castle as her political heroine, and has described her mother and maternal aunt as "two very strong feminists".
In a 2006 by-election, Siddiq stood unsuccessfully for Camden Council. In the 2010 local government elections, she became the first female Bangladeshi councillor for Camden Council, where she was Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities until May 2014.
In September 2015, Siddiq, along with Keir Starmer and Catherine West, wrote a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron seeking urgent action to address the refugee crisis due to the Syrian Civil War. In the same month, she was appointed Permanent Private Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Michael Dugher. In November 2015, she campaigned against changes to junior doctor contracts. In the same month, Siddiq's maiden speech in Parliament was judged one of the top seven from 2015's intake of MPs by the BBC. In October 2016, she was appointed as Shadow Education Minister in the Labour Party's frontbench in Parliament, taking on the childcare and early years education brief and working with Shadow Secretary of State for EducationAngela Rayner.
In November 2016, Siddiq supported a motion in Parliament for the UK to withdraw support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. In January 2017, she resigned from the Labour frontbench over Labour's three-line whip, to vote against triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. She stated that because around 75% of her Hampstead and Kilburn constituency had voted to remain in the European Union as one of the top 10 remain areas, she could not support Labour's position. She won an endorsement from Camden for Europe, Open Britain and Best for Britain, due to her decision to vote against Article 50.
At the snap 2017 general election, Siddiq was re-elected as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn with an increased vote share of 59% and an increased majority of 15,560.
In August 2017, Siddiq called for businesses to "address imbalance" in the employment of people from ethnic minorities to improve the diversity of its workforce. In September 2017, she was appointed as Chair of the new Childcare and Early Education All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). In the same month, she wrote to the Home Office to ask for children's passports to be amended to contain both their parents' names to avoid confusion at airports and borders. She had been stopped with her daughter at UK border control whilst returning from a family holiday until her husband joined them, because she did not have the same surname in her passport as her child.
In November 2017, whilst campaigning for the release of her constituent, the British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran, she was asked by Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News and ITN about using her family ties to the Bangladeshi government, led by her aunt, in order to liberate British Bangladeshi barrister Ahmad bin Quasem, who is thought to have been abducted by state security forces in Bangladesh. The programme's editor, Ben de Pear, complained about Siddiq's "threatening behaviour" to a pregnant producer, while Siddiq complained to the police about her interlocutors. She later apologised in a statement to the producer, Daisy Ayliffe, for the offence caused.
In May 2018, Siddiq supported an equal pay campaign aimed at building pressure on employers. In the same month, she described the actions of the Israeli military during demonstrations on the Gaza border as "unjustified" and "inhumane". She said: "I condemn without reservation these violations of international law and human rights by Israel... The protest has been twofold – to highlight the shocking conditions which Palestinians are forced to live in and to demand their right to return to their homes..." In August 2018, she joined international calls for her aunt's government to release Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam, who had been jailed after reporting about protests by schoolchildren over road safety problems, and had subsequently stated he was tortured.
Siddiq was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 48.9% and a decreased majority of 14,188.
Other activities
Siddiq was a board member of West Euston Partnership and is governor of the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. She served as national BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) Officer for Young Labour and Women's Officer for London Young Labour. She is an executive board member of Unite the Union, a member of the Co-operative Party, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is also a member of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK). She also oversaw Camden's engagement with the 2012 London Olympics, which saw the launch of three legacy schemes to encourage more physical activities, Camden Sports Academy, School and Community Games, and Pro-Active Ambassadors.
Siddiq served two years as a school governor at Beckford Primary School and Richard Cobden Primary School and is a current governor at the Working Men's College in Camden. As of January 2014, Siddiq supports a number of organisations in Hampstead and Kilburn, including school governor roles at Emmanuel Primary School and Granville Plus Nursery as well as being a trustee of the Camden Arts Centre. She has also written for Hampstead and Highgate Express as a foreign correspondent, primarily covering the U.S. elections.
In April 2016, Siddiq gave birth to a daughter at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. She gave birth to a son in January 2019. Two days before the birth she attended the Commons in a wheelchair, for a critical Brexit-related vote. On 29 January, following a constitutional change, she became the first ever MP to vote by proxy.
Since becoming an MP, Siddiq has spoken at Limmud and attends synagogue events. In April 2019, she announced that a relative had died in the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.
^"Tulip Siddiq". Mill Hill School Alumni. 11 February 2019. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
^ abcdeKarim, Mohammed Abdul; Karim, Shahadoth (October 2010). British Bangladeshi Who's Who(PDF). British Bangla Media Group. p. 112. Archived(PDF) from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.