Pakistan-origin British politician resigns from UK Conservative Party over far-right shift

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister of Pakistan origin, resigned from the Conservative Party’s whip in the House of Lords, citing the party’s shift to the far-right in a social media post.

Born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Warsi’s parents migrated from Pakistan to the United Kingdom, and she frequently highlighted her Pakistani heritage during her political career.

She made history in 2010 by becoming Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister under Prime Minister David Cameron’s government.

Warsi expressed concerns over her party’s treatment of a pro-Palestinian activist, Marieha Hussain, who was acquitted of racially aggravated charges. The British politician criticized the Conservative leadership for revisiting the issue despite the legal verdict in Hussain’s favor.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have today informed my whip and decided for now to no longer take the @Conservatives whip,” she wrote on X, formally Twitter.

“I am a Conservative and remain so but sadly the current Party are far removed from the Party I joined and served in Cabinet,” she continued. “My decision is a reflection of how far right my Party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities.”

She called it a “timely reminder of the issues” she raised in her book “Muslims Don’t Matter.”

Warsi’s resignation comes at a time when Conservative leaders are preparing to hold a conference to decide the party’s future, where four top members will make their case to replace Rishi Sunak, the former UK prime minister under whose stewardship the party lost the recent elections.