Faiza Shaheen

Faiza Shaheen (born 1982/1983) is a British economist and left-wing activist.[2]

Faiza Shaheen
Shaheen in 2016
Born1982/1983 (age 39–40)[1]
Leytonstone, London, England
EducationChingford Foundation School
Alma materSt John's College, Oxford
University of Manchester
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Akin Gazi

Early life and education

Shaheen was born in Leytonstone, in East London. Her father was a car mechanic from Fiji and her mother was a lab technician from Pakistan.[1][3]

She attended Chingford Foundation School and St John's College, Oxford University, where she read philosophy, politics and economics.[3] Shaheen also holds an MSc in Research Methods & Statistics and a PhD from the University of Manchester.[4]

Career

She has been the head of inequality and sustainable development at Save the Children UK and a senior researcher on economic inequality at the New Economics Foundation (NEF). She was the director of a left-wing policy think tank, the Centre for Labour & Social Studies (CLASS).[5]

Shaheen is a regular contributor to debates on television news programmes, including Newsnight and Channel 4 News, and has worked with Channel 4 and the BBC to develop documentaries on inequality.

Politics

She is a longtime Labour voter and was politicised from an early age. She joined the Labour Party when Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.[6]

In 2017, The Guardian identified her as a "rising star".[1] In the same year, she was nominated for Asian Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards and included in the Top 100 Influencers on the Left list.[7]

In July 2018, she was selected to be the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party for Chingford and Woodford Green;[8][3] at the 2019 General Election, she lost, finishing second behind the incumbent, Iain Duncan Smith.[9][10]

Personal life

Shaheen is married to the actor Akin Gazi.[11]

References
  1. Roberts, Yvonne (1 January 2017). "Rising stars of 2017: campaigner Faiza Shaheen". Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. "Series 1, Episode 19: Faiza Shaheen". Channel 4 News. 27 July 2018.
  3. "Faiza Shaheen: 'I Feel A Duty To My Country To Take Iain Duncan Smith Out'". HuffPost UK. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  4. "Dr Faiza Shaheen". Shelter England. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. "POLITICO London Influence: A tweak is a long time — Labour in comms — Wedding hells". Politico. 25 February 2021.
  6. Eaton, George (8 August 2018). "The Chingford Corbynite: Faiza Shaheen on her mission to oust Iain Duncan Smith". New Statesman.
  7. Baddhan, Raj (4 September 2017). "Women dominate Asian Achievers Awards 2017".
  8. Rodgers, Sienna (16 July 2018). "Faiza Shaheen selected to fight Iain Duncan Smith's seat". Labour List. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  9. "It feels unbearable to lose to Iain Duncan Smith, so my campaign will continue". inews.co.uk.
  10. "UK general election 2019: full results". ig.ft.com.
  11. Carswell, Simon (11 December 2019). "Rising Labour star threatens to unseat Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith". Irish Times. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.