About Sayeeda
A lawyer, a businesswoman, and a Cabinet Minister, Sayeeda Warsi has had many roles, but she is best known for being Britain’s first Muslim Cabinet Minister.
One of five girls born to immigrant’s parents of Pakistani origin in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Sayeeda studied law at Leeds University, going on to work for the Crown Prosecution Service before setting up her own legal practice, George Warsi Solicitors.
Her father, a former mill worker and bus driver, and her mother who set up their own business, instilled in her values of freedom, responsibility, and aspiration. Inspired, she got involved in the Conservative Party, and it was there that she became an advisor to the leader, Michael Howard, in 2004.
NATIONAL INSPIRATION
FROM YOUNGEST PEER TO RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE
In 2005, Sayeeda stood as a Parliamentary candidate in Dewsbury.
In 2007, she was elevated to the House of Lords aged 36, making her the youngest peer in Parliament. Later that year she travelled to Sudan and famously helped to secure the release of the British teacher Gillian Gibbons who was on trial for blasphemy.
A racial justice campaigner for many years, instrumental in the launch of Operation Black Vote and serving six years at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Sayeeda took on Nick Griffin on Question Time in 2009. It was the first time the British National Party leader appeared on a flagship BBC political show. Her performance singled her out as ‘sharp, articulate, unhysterical and warmly engaging’ (Observer).
