TWO politicians who fought it out to represent Dewsbury in Parliament are celebrating promotion this week.
The town’s MP, Shahid Malik, has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, becoming Britain’s first Muslim Government minister.
And Sayeeda Warsi – who lost to Mr Malik in the 2005 General Election – has been made a peeress in Tory leader David Cameron’s shake-up of spokespeople.
The Dewsbury-born lawyer has been appointed the Conservatives’ new spokeswoman on community cohesion, the most senior post ever held by a Muslim in the party.
Mr Malik will have responsibility for Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America in the Department for International Development.
He said: “I am thrilled to be joining the department’s ministerial team. Most people enter politics to change the world and I’m privileged I will play my part in a department whose mission is to do just that.
“The department has made a real difference to people’s lives in Asia, where fewer people are living in poverty and more children are going to school.
“It has also helped out after disasters like the Pakistan and Gujarat earthquakes and the Boxing Day tsunami.
“The challenge to make poverty history is immense, but I am up for the challenge.”
Meanwhile, Ms Warsi has been elevated to the House of Lords to allow her to join the Conservatives’ front-bench team.
She is a former vice-chairman of the party and was the first Asian woman selected to fight a parliamentary seat for the Conservatives when she stood against Mr Malik.
She lost by 4,615 votes.
The 36-year-old was educated at Birkdale High School and Dewsbury College before studying law at Leeds University.
Ms Warsi worked for the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office before setting up her own practice.
The married mother-of-one was recently dubbed “the most influential Asian woman in British politics today” by the BBC.
Last year she was praised for the way she handled an Islamic extremist who insisted she should wear a veil on TV’s Newsnight.
