Tulip Siddiq

Early life

Siddiq was born in St Helier Hospital in Mitcham, London. From the age of five, she spent her childhood in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Singapore and Spain. In 1998, at the age of 15, she moved to North London and gained four A-levels, before completing her undergraduate degree in English Literature at University College London and then a master's degree at King's College London. In September 2011, she completed a second master's degree in Politics, Policy and Government, writing her dissertation on Local Government also at King's College London.

Siddiq grew up in Hampstead, was raised in a Muslim household and has said that her "family embraced multicultural Britain". As a child, she met Nelson Mandela and was a guest at the White House.

Siddiq is the eldest daughter and second eldest among three children of Shafiq Siddiq, who was an academic and university economics professor before a stroke left him disabled, and Sheikh Rehana, who gained political asylum as a teenager. They met when Shafiq Siddiq was studying for a PhD and they married in Kilburn in 1970. Her maternal grandfather is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding father and the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Her mother's older sister is Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. She has an elder brother, Radwan "Bobby" Mujib (who lives in Bangladesh), and a younger sister, Rupi.

In 1975, Bangladesh Army soldiers stormed Siddiq's mother's home in Bangladesh and assassinated Siddiq's grandfather, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, alongside his three sons and 16 other members of his family in a military coup. Siddiq's mother and aunt survived as they were on holiday in Germany at the time.

Early political career

At the age of 16, Siddiq joined the Labour Party. She has worked for Amnesty International, the Greater London Authority, political consultancy at Philip Gould Associates, Save the Children, and Brunswick, where she worked on corporate social responsibilities initiatives for major British manufacturers, as well as MPs Oona King, Sadiq Khan and Harry Cohen. Siddiq worked on Ed Miliband's campaign to be leader of the Labour Party, and as a special advisor to Tessa Jowell. She has campaigned for political parties internationally, and in 2008, she campaigned for Barack Obama in the U.S.

In a 2006 by-election, Siddiq stood for Camden Council but did not win. It was an overwhelming Liberal Democrats seat and had been a Liberal Democrats seat for 25 years. In May 2010, in the Camden election, Siddiq became the first Bengali female councillor in Camden Council, where she was Cabinet Member for Culture and Communities until May 2014.

In July 2013, Siddiq became the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in the 2015 General Election, following a vote by local party members, despite being the victim of a smear campaign.

During 2013 and 2014, after being selected as Labour candidate, she campaigned on various topics, including against the proposed high-speed railway expansion High Speed 2, and in opposition to high pay day lender charges on Kilburn High Road. She has also campaigned in support of local services, such as to keep Belsize Fire Station open, to improve disabled access at West Hampstead tube station and to save the Swiss Cottage post office.

Parliamentary career

In May 2015, Siddiq won the Hampstead and Kilburn seat with 23,977 votes, with a turnout of 67.3%. Siddiq became Camden's first new MP in 23 years as the seat was previously held by Glenda Jackson from 1992 to 2015. The seat had previously been the second tightest in the country after Jackson won by just 42 votes in 2010 and was billed as the UK's most marginal general election contest.

In June 2015, Siddiq was appointed a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism. She is also a member of the Women and Equalities Select Committee. In the same month, she was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election, although she later supported Andy Burnham.

In September 2015, Siddiq along with Keir Starmer and Catherine West wrote a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron seeking urgent action to address the refugee crisis due to the Syrian Civil War. In the same month, she was appointed Permanent Private Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Michael Dugher.

In November 2015, she campaigned against changes to junior doctor contracts. In the same month, Siddiq's maiden speech in Parliament was judged one of the top seven from 2015's intake of MPs by the BBC.

In October 2016, she was appointed as Shadow Education Minister in the Labour Party's frontbench in Parliament, taking on the childcare and early years education brief and working with Shadow Secretary of State for Education Angela Rayner.

In January 2017, she resigned from the Labour frontbench over Labour's three-line whip to vote for triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Tulip stated that because around 75% of her Hampstead and Kilburn constituency voted to remain in the European Union as one of the top 10 remain areas, she could not "reconcile" her position. Siddiq won an endorsement from Camden for Europe, Open Britain and Best for Britain, due to her decision to vote against Article 50.

Other activities

Siddiq was a board member of West Euston Partnership and is governor of the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. She served as national BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) Officer for Young Labour and Women's Officer for London Young Labour. She is an executive board member of Unite the Union, a member of the Co-operative Party, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is also a member of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK). In July 2011, she joined Brunswick Group LLP as an Account Director. She also oversaw Camden's engagement with the 2012 London Olympics, which saw the launch of three legacy schemes to encourage more physical activities, Camden Sports Academy, School and Community Games, and Pro-Active Ambassadors.

Siddiq served two years as a school governor at Beckford Primary School and Richard Cobden Primary School and is a current governor at the Working Men's College in Camden. As of January 2014, Siddiq supports a number of organisations in Hampstead and Kilburn, including school governor roles at Emmanuel Primary School and Granville Plus Nursery as well as being a trustee of the Camden Arts Centre. She has also written for Hampstead and Highgate Express as a foreign correspondent, primarily covering the U.S. elections.

Recognition

In January 2013, Siddiq was named in the British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration 100. In December 2014, she was named by The Guardian as "one to watch" in British politics. In April 2015, The Sunday Times described her as one of the "rising stars" of the Labour Party.

Personal life

Siddiq is a Muslim, has referred to herself as a socialist and has stated opposition to the Iraq War. Siddiq's father suffered a stroke, which left him disabled and unable to speak for five years, and he now uses a wheelchair. She has attributed the NHS and the care her disabled father received as the reason why she joined the Labour Party. She has cited Barbara Castle as her political heroine. Siddiq has described her mother and maternal aunt as "two very strong feminists".

In 2013, Siddiq married Christian William St John Percy (born 1984), who is a Cambridge-educated company director and strategy consultant with a background in the British civil service. The wedding reception was held a few months later on 7 July in West Ham, London. Siddiq lives in a flat on Finchley Road, West Hampstead, London with her husband. In November 2015, it was confirmed Siddiq is five months pregnant and expecting a daughter in April 2016. On 8 April 2016, Siddiq gave birth to a girl, Azalea Joy, at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. Siddiq returned to work nine weeks after an emergency caesarean section. Siddiq's daughter attends a Jewish nursery.

Since becoming an MP, Siddiq has spoken at Limmud and attends synagogue events.