Shahrar Ali

Shahrar Ali
Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
In office 1 September 2014 – 31 August 2016 Serving with Amelia Womack
Leader	Natalie Bennett
Preceded by	Will Duckworth
Succeeded by	Amelia Womack
Personal details
Political party	Green Party of England and Wales
Residence	London
Alma mater	University College London

Mohammad Shahrar Ali,^[1] known as Shahrar Ali (['ʃɑːrɑː ɑː'liː]), is a British politician and former Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, a post in which he served alongside Amelia Womack. He was the first black and minority ethnic deputy leader of a parliamentary party in the UK and was elected in September 2014 at the Green Party conference in Aston, Birmingham for a two-year term.

Education

Shahrar Ali has degrees in biochemical engineering (BEng) and philosophy (BA, MPhil, PhD) from the University of London. His 1997 MPhil thesis was on "Practical reason with reference to the Human conception", and his 2004 PhD thesis (UCL) was entitled "Making as if to stand behind one's words: a theory of intentional deception and lying".^[1] His research interests are in moral and applied philosophy.

Career

Ali began his green political career after working for the European Parliament in Luxembourg, and has attributed this career decision in part to his experience of teaching philosophy at university level. He has taught at the University of Hertfordshire, Anglia Polytechnic University (now Anglia Ruskin University), City Lit, the Workers' Educational Association and modern philosophy at Birkbeck College.^[2] He stood in the 2005, 2010 & 2015 general elections (for Brent East and then Brent Central),^[3] in the 2012 London Assembly election (for Brent & Harrow),^[4] and in the 2014 European Parliament election.^[5] He is author of Why Vote Green (2010)^[6] and editor of Why Vote Green 2015.^[7]

On 29 June 2018, Ali announced he would stand in the Green Party of England and Wales leadership election, 2018.^[8] On 11 August 2018, The Times reported that on Holocaust Memorial Day, in January 2009, Shahrar Ali had made a speech comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust.^[9] In an article published on the Left Foot Forward blog, the Campaign Against Antisemitism described his speech as anti-semitic and an “offensive rant”.^[10] Ali described the accusation as a "gross fabrication", telling the Evening Standard that it was "designed to stifle legitimate criticism of the Israeli government".^[11] The Green Party said that its initial handling of reports about Ali's speech in 2009 were inadequate and that it is seeking to revise procedures.^[12] Ali came second in the election, receiving 1,466 votes (17.5% of the vote).^[13]

Ali works in the Institute of Health Sciences Education at Queen Mary, University of London.^[14]

References