Shabana Mahmood Appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in Starmer's Cabinet
Upon appointment, Mahmood said, 'Before politics, I was a lawyer. I understand the deep challenges facing our justice system. But there is so much we can do. The hard work starts now.'
In a historic move, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed Shabana Mahmood as the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, making her the first observant Muslim and only the second woman to hold the office of Lord Chancellor. Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010, brings a wealth of legal and political experience to her new role.
Mahmood's journey to this high office has been marked by numerous achievements. Born and raised in Birmingham to parents from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, she pursued a legal career after earning a scholarship to study law and being called to the bar at Grays Inn.
Specializing in professional indemnity cases, Mahmood's legal expertise will be crucial in her new role overseeing the UK’s justice system.
Her political career has been distinguished by her roles as shadow justice secretary, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, and various other shadow ministerial positions. As shadow justice secretary, she outlined plans to provide state-funded legal advice and representation for rape victims, a commitment she is expected to pursue in her new office.
In her acceptance speech, Mahmood thanked her supporters and family while addressing the harassment she endured, “A lot will be written about this campaign and it should be. This was a campaign of harassment and intimidation, of me, my family and my supporters who knocked on the doors. Bravely, they continued. This wasn’t just an assault on this.
This was an assault on democracy. British politics must soon wake up to what happened at this election in Ladywood and a handful of seats across the country. While it will be always acceptable to disagree passionately, it is never acceptable to intimidate and threaten. We must never accept anyone terrifying us. We must never accept physical threats and intimidation.”
Addressing her opponents, she said, “They thought they could intimidate us but they couldn’t. They thought they could silence us but they couldn’t. They thought they could beat us but they couldn’t. We campaigned for change in our constituency and nationally, for the change. I want to thank the people of Ladywood for rejecting the politics of division and embracing a politics of hope.”
In an interview, Mahmood shared, “In my 14 years of public life as a Kashmiri Pakistani-origin Muslim woman in the UK, I have encountered intimidation and harassment, emphasizing that being a Muslim woman in public life is challenging.”
She continued, “I had not previously discussed such harassment because I did not want people, especially our sisters and daughters, to perceive politics negatively and be deterred by the challenges of intimidation and harassment.”
She stressed the importance of a free and fair democratic process, saying, “In a free democracy, everyone should participate in elections free from fear of harassment or abuse. Pushing women out of the democratic process through intimidation is unacceptable. It is crucial that candidates can freely stand for election and voters can cast their votes without any form of coercion.”
Mahmood, 43, has also been a vocal advocate for the Palestinian cause. Known for her pro-Palestinian stance, she participated in a 2014 protest against the sale of West Bank settlement goods.
In the wake of the ongoing war in Gaza, Mahmood always uses her platform to advocate on behalf of Palestinians, “I am horrified by the scenes coming out of Gaza, where innocent people are living in terror as war rages between Israel and Hamas. It is important that there is a clear distinction between a terrorist group and the innocent civilians in Gaza, who do not deserve collective punishment.”
As Mahmood prepares to be sworn in as Lord Chancellor at the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of the opening of parliament on July 17, her appointment is seen as a significant step towards greater diversity and representation in British politics.
