Who Is Shabana Mahmood, Pak-Origin Woman Chosen As UK's Home Secretary

Shabana Mahmood, a Pakistani-origin politician, has been appointed the United Kingdom's new Home Secretary in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's latest cabinet reshuffle.

Ms Mahmood succeeds former Home Secretary Angela Rayner, who resigned recently. She is the first Muslim woman to hold the top position in the Home Office, a department responsible for policing, immigration, and national security.

"It is the honour of my life to serve as Home Secretary. The first responsibility of the government is the safety of its citizens. Every day in this job, I will be devoted to that purpose," she wrote in a statement.

Who Is Shabana Mahmood?

Shabana Mahmood was born on 17 September 1980 in Birmingham, England, to Pakistani parents. She lived with her family in Saudi Arabia for five years (1981-85).

She attended Small Heath School and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls before studying law at Lincoln College, Oxford. She graduated in 2002. She then completed the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law in 2003 and became a barrister.

Ms Mahmood worked as a barrister at 12 King's Bench Walk and at Berrymans Lace Mawer. In 2010, she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood, becoming one of the UK's first female Muslim MPs.

From 2010 to 2015, Ms Mahmood worked in the capacity of Shadow Minister for Prisons, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury. After the 2015 election, she was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and helped lead Yvette Cooper's campaign to become Labour leader.

When Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader later in 2015, Ms Mahmood left her shadow cabinet job because she disagreed with his policies and worked as a regular MP. During this time, she was elected to represent MPs on Labour's National Executive Committee and became a vice chair of the party's National Policy Forum. She supported Owen Smith in his attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in 2016 and was re-elected as MP in 2017 and 2019.

Ms Mahmood returned to the Shadow Cabinet in May 2021 as National Campaign Coordinator and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor in September 2023.

Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, she became Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor.

Ms Mahmood is a devout Muslim and lives near her family in Birmingham. In 2024, she was sworn into the Privy Council, earning the title "The Right Honourable."