Sayeeda Warsi is one of the Party's leading campaigners and as Co-Chairman is at the forefront of the Party's political and election campaigns.
Born in Dewsbury in 1971, Sayeeda has been politically involved since her early college days. She believes in aspiration and opportunity, inspired by her father, who arrived in
this country with almost nothing and founded a local manufacturing firm which still runs as a family business today.
Sayeeda has always had a keen interest in faith and racial justice issues. She was instrumental in the launch of Operation Black Vote in West Yorkshire in 1996 and was for
many years both an executive member of the Kirklees Racial Equality Council and a member of the Joseph Rowntree Trust Racial Justice Committee. In October 2009, Sayeeda
took on the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, on BBC's Question Time.
In 2004, Michael Howard appointed Sayeeda as an adviser and Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party. She was appointed a Conservative Peer by David Cameron in 2007
and served as Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action. After the 2010 General Election, Sayeeda became the first Muslim to serve as a full member of the
British Cabinet.
In September 2010, Sayeeda made the first of a series of keynote addresses on the importance of faith as a force for good in society, signalling a new direction in government
policy and making clear that the coalition government does "do God".
Sayeeda has volunteered all her life, in mentoring, community groups, and as a trustee of the Savayra Foundation, a woman's empowerment charity. Beginning with the Waves
Network Social Action Project in 2005, she has worked with other Conservatives to place social action at the heart of the Party and has led a number of Conservative Social Action
projects, including Project Maja in Bosnia.
Sayeeda was educated at Birkdale High School and Dewsbury College, and then the University of Leeds where she read Law (LLB). She attended the York College of Law to
complete her Legal Practice Course and trained with both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office Immigration Department.
After qualifying as a Solicitor, she worked for John Whitfield, the last Conservative Member of Parliament for Dewsbury, at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors and then went on
to set up her own specialist practice, George Warsi Solicitors in Dewsbury. She has also worked overseas on a research project for the Ministry of Law in Pakistan.
POSITIONS HELD:
- Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Dewsbury, 2004 - 2005
- Community Relations Advisor to Leader of the Opposition, June 2004 - June 2005
- Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, June 2005 - July 2007
- Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion & Social Action, July 2007 - May 2010
- Shadow Minister for Sheffield, Aug 2007 - May 2010
- Minister without Portfolio & Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, May 2010 -
PROUDEST POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENT:
In Opposition:
Helping to secure the release of British teacher Gillian Gibbons in Sudan in 2007.
In Government:
Speaking out in defence of faith and faith communities.
As Conservative Party co-Chairman:
Helping to win the AV Referendum and safeguarding "one person, one vote".
INTERESTS OUTSIDE OF POLITICS:
- Family
- Cricket
- Cooking
- Sayeeda is a total anorak on home improvements and loves TV programmes, especially "Grand Designs" and "Location, Location, Location".
FAMILY LIFE:
- Sayeeda lives in Wakefield with her husband Iftikhar and their five children.