Faiza Shaheen
Faiza Shaheen (born 1983) is a British economist and left-wing activist.[1] She is the director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS).[2] In 2019, she unsuccessfully attempted to unseat the incumbent MP Sir Ian Duncan Smith by contesting the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency for the Labour Party.
Faiza Shaheen | |
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![]() Shaheen in 2016 | |
Born | 1983 (age 36–37) Leytonstone, London, England |
Education | Chingford Foundation School |
Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford University of Manchester |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Akin Gazi |
Early life and education
Faiza Shaheen was born in Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, east London. Her father was a car mechanic from Fiji and her mother was a Pakistani lab technician.[3][4] She was brought up in Chingford and attended Chingford School, followed by St John's College, Oxford University, where she read philosophy, politics and economics.[2][4] Shaheen also holds an MSc in Research Methods & Statistics and a PhD from the University of Manchester.[2]
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 is the director of a left-wing policy think tank, the Centre for Labour & Social Studies (CLASS).
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.[2]
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.[5]
In 2017, The Guardian identified her as a "rising star".[3] In 2017, Shaheen was also nominated for Asian Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards and included in the Top 100 Influencers on the Left list.[2][6][7]
In July 2018, she was selected to be the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party for Chingford and Woodford Green.[8][4] Her campaign was the subject of a six-minute video report in the Guardian which emphasised her local origin and working-class background, contrasting these with the incumbent, Iain Duncan Smith.[9]
She narrowly lost the 2019 General Election to Iain Duncan Smith by 1,262 votes, one of only two London constituencies to increase Labour's percentage vote share.[10][11].
References
- Channel 4 News (27 July 2018). "Faiza Shaheen on solutions to austerity, why she wants to be an MP and institutional racism". Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via YouTube.
- "Dr Faiza Shaheen - Staff - CLASS". classonline.org.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- Roberts, Yvonne (1 January 2017). "Rising stars of 2017: campaigner Faiza Shaheen". Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
- "Faiza Shaheen: 'I Feel A Duty To My Country To Take Iain Duncan Smith Out'". HuffPost UK. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- Eaton, George (8 August 2018). "The Chingford Corbynite: Faiza Shaheen on her mission to oust Iain Duncan Smith". New Statesman.
- "Dr Faiza Shaheen". Shelter. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- "2017 Awards". Asian Achievers Awards. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- Rodgers, Sienna (16 July 2018). "Faiza Shaheen selected to fight Iain Duncan Smith's seat". Labour List. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- Walker, Peter (11 November 2019). "Green candidate steps aside as Labour targets Tory-held Chingford". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- "It feels unbearable to lose to Iain Duncan Smith, so my campaign will continue". inews.co.uk.
- "UK general election 2019: full results". ig.ft.com.
- Carswell, Simon (11 December 2019). "Rising Labour star threatens to unseat Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith". Irish Times. Retrieved 13 January 2020.